Cristian Mesa Velazquez - Entre Dos Aguas

Between Two Waters
Oil on canvas · 41 x 29.5 cm · 2026

The composition is split exactly along the waterline: above, a figure drifts on a pink flotation device, dissolved in a hazy background of pale blues; below, legs sink into a much denser, more saturated turquoise, stirring the surface into foam and reflections. It is the same figure lived out in two different registers—the repose of the skin in the sun and the motion of the body beneath the water—captured in a single moment.

That dual nature underpins the title and the work: not entirely on the surface, nor entirely submerged, the figure occupies the threshold between two states. Cristian Mesa Velázquez here revisits the direct contact with water that defines his oeuvre, combined with the lighter, more luminous register he has begun to explore in recent pieces—the result breathes, without losing the central interest in how water transforms what it touches.

Technically, the contrast in density between the two halves is deliberate: the upper part is resolved with long, translucent, almost watercolor-like brushstrokes, while the lower part gains body, saturation, and texture, physically underscoring the difference between being in the water and being beneath it.

Technique: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 41 x 29.5 cm
100% handmade by the artist
Includes certificate of authenticity
Shipped unframed for maximum security in transport

Her series of submerged swimmers has been the subject of a comparative academic analysis with J. E. Millais and Samantha French, published in August 2026 in Aletheia – A Journal of Literary and Linguistic Studies.