Cristina Llano became interested in the humanities and art early in life. She took courses in sociology and art at Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts (1972–1973), and studied drawing, painting and sculpture at the Instituto Departamental de Bellas Artes de Cali (1977–1978). Unable to find satisfaction for her concerns and artistic needs in academia, she decided to pursue her practice as a self-taught artist. Driven by her love for sculpture, she enrolled at the Fonderia Artistica Mariani (1982) in Pietrasanta, Italy. When she returned to Cali, her sculptural project was interrupted by the lack of bronze foundries. A 1986 visit to the ARCOmadrid contemporary art fair awakened an interest in painting as a medium where she could find the gestural freedom she was seeking. She began a series of large-format paintings exploring romantic passions and the power relationships involved in emotional constructions, in works such as Lazos de sangre [Blood Ties, 1987], Escenas de la vida cotidiana [Scenes from Everyday Life, 1988] and Único testigo [Sole Witness, 1996].

In 1987 she presented her work at the 31st Salón Nacional de Artistas in Medellin. With the professional support of the curator and critic Miguel González, C. Llano began to participate in group and solo exhibitions on the national level, including the Primera Bienal de Arte de Bogotá (1988), the 33rd, 34th and 35th editions of the Salón Nacional de Artistas (1990, 1992, 1994), and the solo shows Cristina Llano at the Museo La Tertulia (1990), RX 100 dibujo. 2000–2007 [Prescription 100 Drawing] at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Bogota (2007), Del amor y la muerte [On Love and Death, 2002] and Hombres, mujeres y niños [Men, Women and Children, 2016] at the Casa Proartes in Cali.

Following the murder of her brother and a violent event in the late 1990s, C. Llano decided to move to Spain. While living in Mayorca (2000–2002), her painting underwent a transformation and became infused with the themes of mourning, suffering and death. She produced a series of 300 ink drawings on paper called Del amor y la Muerte [On Love and Death] dedicated to her mother and all women afflicted by the loss of loved ones. She also started using sheets of aluminium in her work – a cold and sharp-edged material referencing death, which she scratched and dented before painting. Since 2000, violence, pain, silence and helplessness have been recurring themes in her work.

C. Llano won a grant (La Beca de Creación Individual de Colcultura, 1994–1995) that allowed her to mount the exhibition La esperanza del sur [The Hope of the South]. She has participated in international shows such as the 2nd Bienal Internacional de Pintura (Ecuador, 1989), the Salon Grands et jeunes d’aujourd’hui (France and Luxembourg, 2003) and the 11th Biennalle di Firenze (Italy, 2013). Her work is held in private and public collections, including the Museo de Arte Moderno in Bogota, the Museo la Tertulia in Cali, the Museo de Arte de Pereira and the Museo de Arte in Medellin. She has lived and worked in Cali since 2002.