Felipe Castañeda (Mexican, b.1933) began his artistic career working at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. During that time, he became an assistant to the renowned sculptor Francisco Zúñiga (French, 1867–1947), who quickly helped the artist realize his aptitude for sculpting and carving. Castañeda finished his studies in 1963, and by 1970, he was showing his work in exhibitions.

Castañeda experiments with many media in order to master molding clay for his sculptures, preferring to work in marble, onyx, and bronze. The heavy influence of pre-Columbian artifacts is evident in his traditional approach to representing the human form. His stylized depictions of the female body are just one example of his expressive use of the media he works with. His sculptures have appeared in exhibitions all over the world, including commissioned public sculptures in Mexico and California. His works are part of the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Art History in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico.