Duality in Dialogue
Ten years in, Sotto found her way of keeping heritage while also not being bound by it
Words Marc Nathaniel Servo
Photos courtesy of Paulina Luz Sotto and Galleria Nicolas
November 27, 2025
Ten years into her foray to the art world, visual artist Paulina Luz Sotto boldly reflects on her past and future with her newest exhibit ‘Duality in Dialogue,’ a celebration of her inheritance through her grandfather, National Artist Arturo Luz, and her artistic evolution inspired by motherhood.
When asked by Art+, Paulina defines the exhibit as a paradox—a contrast between the groovy, geometric abstractions as an homage to her grandfather and her newfound funky, cartoonish portraits representing playfulness and freer creative expression.
Sotto is known for her exploration of abstraction, rhythm, and gentle joy of form. She is continuing the family legacy of balance and precision, while also creating her own language of expression, marked by contemporary wit, spontaneity, and warmth, fluidly transitioning between geometric abstraction and playful portraiture through the decade.
However, prior to this set of works, her signature mold of minimalism, while already playful, felt careful, portraiture feeling more similar to her grandfather’s form of restraint, pattern, and solidity. But with her renewed expression on pop-art inspired portraits, the strokes now feel free: curious, whimsy, and colourful, an imagery that Sotto found after giving birth to her second child, a pulse of creation without overthinking.
“I’ve noticed when I initially sketch it out, it’s better when I don’t stop and I don’t think about it too much,” Paulina said.
Intuition as a process
Child-rearing is a difficult task, more so with being an artist. Maybe this is the reason for her evolution to an intuitive artform—less overthinking, and more on getting into the sensation before you find your child calling for you.
Now, her expression has fully encompassed pop art with all the vibrancy and all the whimsy alongside the geometric style of Luz. Some of her works include A Summer Day, Architectures of Memory, Cool Beans, and Red Horizon.
While looking back to her past works, Paulina’s new portraits found a new touch of childishness in them, perhaps another influence of having two kids as an artist mom. This form feels similar to her grandfather’s abstractions while also being remarkably hers—a way to continue a heritage while also not being bound by it.
Grounded, evolving
In essence, Duality in Dialogue is Paulina’s expression of how she reconciles with the duality of her growth, how an artist could evolve without severing her roots, how lineage can flow into discovery. Together, her lineage and evolution converse—her abstractions grounding her language, her portraits expanding it.
You can visit Paulina Luz Sotto’s Duality in Dialogue exhibit at Galleria Nicolas, 3F, Greenbelt 5 from November 20, Thursday, until November 30, Sunday.
