Short Bio

Catalina Gold (formerly Catalina Bayona) is a Colombian-born multidisciplinary artist working between Milwaukee and New York City. Through painting, sculpture, public art, and cultural initiatives, her practice explores spirituality, landscape, pilgrimage, transformation, and the sacred dimensions of human experience.

She received her MFA from the New York Academy of Art and has developed a practice that moves between studio work, public art, education, and cultural leadership.

Artist Statement

My work explores the relationship between spirituality, landscape, and human transformation.

Through painting, sculpture, drawing, and public art, I create symbolic and atmospheric worlds where the body becomes landscape and the landscape becomes a reflection of inner life. My figures are often travelers, witnesses, or spiritual bodies moving through deserts, mountains, water, light, and mist.

My practice is rooted in my personal relationship with God, but my work is not an attempt to define faith for others. It is a testimony of presence, transformation, and guidance. I am interested in the invisible ways the sacred appears within everyday life, memory, nature, and human experience.

The name Gold reflects my artistic and spiritual journey. Gold has appeared in my work as a symbol of illumination, purification, divine presence, and the treasures of heaven. It also connects to my Colombian heritage, where gold has deep ancestral and spiritual meaning beyond material value.

Biography

Catalina Gold, formerly known as Catalina Bayona, is a Colombian-born interdisciplinary artist, educator, muralist, public artist, and cultural leader working between Milwaukee and New York City.

Her artistic practice explores spirituality, nature, pilgrimage, healing, transformation, and the relationship between the visible and invisible dimensions of human experience. Through painting, sculpture, drawing, public art, and community-based projects, she creates symbolic worlds that invite reflection on faith, resilience, belonging, and the landscapes we carry within ourselves.

Gold received her Master of Fine Arts from the New York Academy of Art. Her background also includes studies in fine arts, artistic techniques, film, video, television production, communication, and cultural management.

Her public art and cultural work include murals, educational programs, exhibitions, youth mentorship, and community-based initiatives in the United States and Colombia. She is the founder of JCT International and Casa Cultural & Healing Garden, projects that connect art, education, nature, wellness, and cultural transformation.

Her long-term vision extends beyond individual artworks toward the creation of cultural spaces, public art initiatives, educational programs, and institutions that connect creativity, spirituality, nature, and human development.