In Elysian, Katrina Cuenca extends her long-standing exploration of movement, chromatic rhythm, and spatial harmony into a plane of radiant transcendence. The exhibition takes its title from the mythic fields of bliss—a place where the spirit, liberated from worldly encumbrances, finds rest in beauty. True to this invocation, the works gathered shimmer with light, as if each brushstroke and curvature of form were portals to a world both remembered and imagined anew.
Across Cuenca’s works, the eye is led into streams of intertwining color and geometry—lattices that pulse, undulate, and break into kaleidoscopic revelations. There is a sense of choreography at work: figures dissolve into fields of energy and structures dissolve into motion. The compositions never still themselves into stasis, but breathe with an organic vitality––caught mid-flight, suspended in the instant before resolution.
Cuenca’s painterly approach negotiates structure and dynamism. Her compositions often rely on the interplay of florid configurations and gestural movement. This results to spatial structures that resist singular focal points and instead, encourage a dispersed mode of viewing. This layering produces depth and vibrancy, while the distribution of form suggests a disciplined concern for equilibrium.
What Elysian ultimately offers is not only an escape, but an encounter. These works remind that paradise is not only a mythic destination but a condition of seeing, a shift of perception. In Cuenca’s layered planes and radiant elements, one glimpses how art might enact its own promise: to deliver us, however briefly, to that realm where all is luminous, balanced, and whole.
Katrina Cuenca is known for her petal-like abstract figurations that exude an air of peace and serenity. Katrina Cuenca is renowned for her petal-like abstract figurations that exude a sense of tranquility and calm. She often complements her signature palette of soft pastels and muted hues with gold leaf accents, infusing her work with a unique, luminous quality. Cuenca has had multiple well-received solo exhibitions with various galleries in Metro Manila. Her works have been featured in the longest running visual arts fair in the Philippines, ManilART, and the Modern and Contemporary Art Festival (MoCAF), while also having participated in Asia’s leading international art fair, at Art Busan 2024 in Korea.
“Elysian” by Katrina Cuenca will be on view at Art Lounge Manila – Molito Lifestyle Center until September 29, 2025, with an Artist Reception set on Saturday, September 27, 2025 at 4 pm.
