Eva Fakatselis

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With these talismanic trees, Fakatselis roots herself in discussions of identity, health and spirituality. Here, the trees act as central miracle-working figures and the adornment and narrative layering of symbols transform the painting into iconography.

(Continued below)

Left: Three Sisters / CENTER: Silver Mountain / Right: Miracle Heart
2025—2026
Watercolor, ink, gold and silver leaf on watercolor paper
45×31 in (each)

Left: Night Sky / CENTER: Sun Tree / Right: Guanacaste Dry Forest
2025—2026
Watercolor, ink, gold and silver leaf on watercolor paper
45×31 in (each)

Left: Night Sky / CENTER: Sun Tree / Right: Guanacaste Dry Forest
2025—202
Watercolor, ink, gold and silver leaf on watercolor paper
45×31 in (each)

Left: Night Sky / CENTER: Sun Tree / Right: Guanacaste Dry Forest
2025—2026
Watercolor, ink, gold and silver leaf on watercolor paper
45×31 in (each)

Left: Night Sky / CENTER: Sun Tree / Right: Guanacaste Dry Forest
2025—2026
Watercolor, ink, gold and silver leaf on watercolor paper
45×31 in (each

Left: Night Sky / CENTER: Sun Tree / Right: Guanacaste Dry Forest
2025—2026
Watercolor, ink, gold and silver leaf on watercolor paper
45×31 in (each)

The Tree of Life
2023
Watercolor, gold and silver leaf on watercolor paper
48×31 in

The Three Fates
2023
Watercolor, ink, gold and silver leaf on watercolor paper
45×82 in

The Tree of Life
2023
Watercolor, gold and silver leaf on watercolor paper
48×31 in

Plumeria Fractals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6
2024
Watercolor, gold and silver leaf on watercolor paper
48×54 in (24×18 in each)

Left: Miraculous Trees I / Right: Miraculous Trees II
2022
Watercolor, ink and gold leaf on watercolor paper
18×24 in (each)

Left: The Tree of Pilgrimage / Right: The Resurrectiom Tree
2022
Watercolor, ink, gold leaf and silver leaf on watercolor paper
18×24 in (each)

Left: The Tree of Life / Right: The Tree of Life
2023
Watercolor, ink, gold and silver leaf on watercolor paper
48×31 in

Left: The Tree of Saints / CENTER: The Trees Have Eyes / Right: The Tree of Webs
2022
Watercolor, ink, gold and silver leaf on watercolor paper
18×24 in (each)

Medusa Tree I
2023
Watercolor, ink and gold leaf on watercolor paper
18×24 in

Helios Tree
2023

Watercolor, ink and gold leaf on watercolor paper

18×24 in

Across the Universe
2023

Watercolor, ink and gold leaf on watercolor paper

18×24 in

Tree in the City
2022

Watercolor, ink and gold leaf on watercolor paper

18×24 in

Prayer Trees

2020—2026
Fakatselis derives profound inspiration from her surrounding natural world in Costa Rica, specifically the Plumeria tree which, in turn, functions in her work as a central icon, adorned with talismans for prayer and contemplation. With these talismanic trees, Fakatselis roots herself in discussions of identity, health and spirituality. Here, the trees act as central miracle-working figures and the adornment and narrative layering of symbols, natural elements encountered in daily life, transforms the painting into iconography. The use of gold leaf connotes connection with the divine and hints at the transubstantiation of the work from mere paper, water and pigment into something mystical.

The artist’s catalyst for developing such a personal and spiritual practice was born out of a desire to reexamine herself, her cultural identity as a Greek-American living in Costa Rica, and what she seeks to invoke and manifest moving forward. This body of work is shaped by Fakatselis’ interest in exploring multiple semantic systems including the mystical-allegorical language of alchemy, classical Greek mythology and Christological symbolism drawn from Byzantine manuscripts and early Renaissance. Fakatselis is consistently drawn to themes of nature as they relate to human, plant and animal forms, as well as the transmutation of the individual from physical to spiritual realm.

“Inspire me, O gods and spin me a thread from the worlds beginning down to my own lifetime, in one continuous poem.”
—Ovid, Metamorphosis

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