Daniela Martén
The work of Costa Rican artist Daniela Martén Rothe offers a dialogue between tropical exuberance and a way of seeing that privileges the subtle and the emotive. Through a voluptuous and suggestive symbolism, she creates an expressive and eloquent visual language that reclaims female sexuality as an act of resistance against social oppression. Her artistic practice evokes the sensorial essence of the human experience, transcending the merely decorative to project the regenerative power of the feminine. It is a fertile exchange between her imagination and that of the viewer.
Daniela succeeds in conveying the strength and beauty of women, represented especially through elements intertwined with flora—abundant in color and vitality—speaking to a visual poetry in which nature carries an inherent dignity and presence that, though silent, commands attention. Her work unfolds through textures, sensations, and color, approaching femininity as a path toward liberation while celebrating sensuality in all its complexity. This meticulous attention to detail allows her work to transcend traditional interpretations. Hers is an art that appeals to the primal and visceral, demonstrating that feminine energy is, above all, a force for both personal and social transformation.
Her artistic formation began in childhood, driven by an early fascination with chromatic interplay and visual aesthetics. She graduated from the School of Fine Arts at the University of Costa Rica and later continued her studies independently. She was awarded first prize at the CROMA Biennial, participated in the National Salon at the Museo de Arte Costarricense in 2022, and in The Cutting Garden at Room57 Gallery. Her work has also been exhibited at the Centro Cultural de España en Costa Rica and the Museo Regional de San Ramón. Additionally, she was among the invited artists in the inaugural exhibition of the feminist collective Casa Ma and participated in Valoarte 2012. She is currently part of the co-management of Queremos Pintar, an initiative dedicated to amplifying the visibility of active women painters, and manages the independent artist studio space Amante Art Lab. She has participated in numerous solo and collective exhibitions both nationally and internationally.
To observe Daniela’s work is to enter a secret garden, where we become explorers of both what is seen and what is merely intuited. Each gesture becomes a pathway flowing between tangible beauty and the echo of the invisible—an emotional and sensorial exploration in which not everything reveals itself at first glance.
