Catalina Vásquez (Kathiuska) is an illustrator, designer, and filmmaker from Medellín, Colombia. Her practice explores the plasticity of the image to bridge personal memory with collective identity, navigating the space between graphic narrative and documentary animation. With a multidisciplinary approach, she translates lived experiences into a wide array of fields from independent film to textiles, publishing, fashion, tech, and beyond.
A graduate of the University of Antioquia, Catalina was a resident at the Maison des Auteurs (Angoulême, France, 2018) with her comic project Interstices. Also received the India Catalina Award for Best New Creator for her short documentary Reciclando Recuerdos (FICCI, 2011). Her short film Cárcel was featured in the Official Selection at DOK Leipzig (2018), the Málaga Film Festival (2019), and Bogoshorts. As an executive producer, she realized the animated short Niebla, which was selected for the Official Competition at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen (2021).
In 2021, her work Geraldine (co-created with Alejandra Pérez Torres) was selected by the Goethe-Institut for a Global South comics anthology. The project documents the life of a trans woman from the Emberá Chamí indigenous community, weaving together narratives of ecological activism and LGBTIQ+ rights.
She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Latin American Cultural Studies at Javeriana University, researching the intersections of domestic labor, gender, and class through an affective lens.
Selected clients:
Adobe · Internazionale · Amnesty International · Upwork · Doméstika · Snapchat · Reserve · Airbnb · Penguin Random House · Editorial Planeta · Ministry of Culture of Colombia · Radio Ambulante · Fundación Gabo (FNPI) · Mutante · Comisión de la Verdad · Revista Semana · Revista Avianca · El Espectador · Señal Colombia · Fiesta del Libro y la Cultura de Medellín.
Awards & Grants
ADC Silver Cube Award. The One Club for Creativity. New York, USA. 2022
Movements and Moments, Feminist Generation. Goethe Institut Indonesia. 2020
Graphic Novel Artistic Residence at the Maison des Auteurs. Granted by the Ministry of Culture of Colombia and La Cité Internationale de la Bande Dessinée et de L'image. Angouleme, France. 2018
The Film Development Fund Grant (FDC) - Proimágenes Colombia. 2016
Exhibitions
2022 · Artist Posters, La Guarimba International Film Festival. Amantea, Italy.
2019 · Latin American Illustration 6. New York, USA.
2018 · Maison des Auteurs, Festival International de la Bande Dessinée d'Angoulême. France.
2015 · Museo de la Calle, Fiesta del Libro y la Cultura. Medellín, Colombia.
Education
2025-2026 · MA in Latin American Cultural Studies (Candidate) · Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.
2017 · Marketing & Sales for Animation Studios. MinTIC & BAM Grant. Canada, 2017.
2016 · Animation Production Lab Bridging The Gap. Valencia, Spain.
2014 · Diploma in Journalism and Historical Memory · Universidad de Antioquia.
2014 · Diploma in Audiovisual Dramaturgy · Universidad de Antioquia.
2014. Filming in Colombia with Abbas Kiarostami. Proimágenes Colombia
2014 · BA in Audiovisual and Multimedia Communication · Universidad de Antioquia.