Cecilia Flaten was born in Santiago de Chile in 1950. Her mother, a prima donna in the National Ballet in Santiago, gave her access to the art world as a young child, initially in the theater. Dance was her medium for a long time, which was eventually replaced by painting studies from 1993 to 1998. She studied oil painting with Alejandro Liana Greve, Eduardo Castillo and Mari' Eugenia Reyes.