Nido Creativo

Botanical research, photography and tattooing in Nosara

During a short residency at Nido Creativo, I spent time developing a site-specific project in response to the tropical dry forest of the Nicoya Peninsula and its plant life.

The work grew through exchanges with local specialists, including biologist Inés Obregon and horticulturist Osiris Lazo Romero. These conversations shaped how I understood the landscape and informed the direction of the work.

A series of temporary drawing sessions took place directly on skin in collaboration with local residents in Nosara. Native plants were drawn onto the body as non-permanent gestures, and each session became a photographic collaboration with Charles Blouin and Inés Prelovsek. These encounters took place as live photo shoots, producing a series of photographic works across different landscapes in the region.

Tattooing also formed part of the residency through two outdoor sessions, one within the forest and another in a mango farmland. All tattooing sessions operated on a donation basis, with proceeds directed to Finca Loroco, an independent initiative dedicated to native seed preservation.

 Daniel the Gardener and a local collaborator examining a small plant specimen in the forest near Nosara. Daniel the Gardener tattooing a participant outdoors beneath trees during the Nido Creativo residency. Daniel the Gardener consulting a plant reference book with coloured drawing pens arranged nearby. Close view of temporary botanical lines drawn in several colours across a participant’s shoulder, chest and arm. Two participants seen from behind with non-permanent botanical drawings across their backs and arms. A participant holding a mango with a botanical tattoo extending along the side of the torso and leg. A participant with a temporary botanical drawing standing among large tropical leaves. A participant seen from behind with a large botanical tattoo while standing among tropical plants. Two figures curled together on rocks with pink temporary botanical drawings extending across their bodies. Close view of a hand adding pink and yellow botanical lines to a participant’s leg. Close view of pink and yellow temporary flower and leaf drawings across two bodies. Two figures seated on coastal rocks with pink botanical drawings extending across their bodies.