Paola Estrella is a multimedia from Mexico based in London. Her work shifts across painting, video, installation, and performance, with speculative fiction serving as a core element of her practice. Through this lens, she conveys themes of intimacy, desire, and becoming. Estrella delves into the impact of new technologies on public and private spheres, examining how the imaginary shapes social conventions, identity, and our notion of reality. Her interest lies in the intricate tensions and complexities of belief systems and worldviews, as well as the intersection of imagination and perception in relation to transcendent experiences.
Biography
Estrella was selected for New Contemporaries 2022. She has performed at CCA Goldsmiths, South London Gallery, and at the Victoria and Albert Museum East, among others. She was commissioned by CW+ to exhibit in ‘Journeys: Healing Arts’ at Saatchi Gallery. She was shortlisted for the LUMEN Art Prize and exhibited at the Museum of Mexico City in 2021. She won the Travers Smith CSR Programme 2021. Her work was selected by White Cube Gallery for Tomorrow:London in 2020. She has a master’s degree from the Royal College of Art in Contemporary Art and studied art direction and mixed media at Central Saint Martins.
CV
Education
2018-2021, MA Contemporary Art, Royal College of Art, London
2007-2012, BA Graphic Design, IBERO University, Mexico
Upcoming Exhibitions
2025 (21-26 January) - London Open Art Fair with Metamorphika Studio, London.
Recent Exhibitions
2024 In Between, V&A LatinxTakeover, UCL East, Performing The Cenote Ring, London.
2024 Fire, Display Fever and Metamorphika Studio, London.
2024 Speculative Land(e)scapes, Silian Gallery, London.
2023 / 2024 ‘Diasporas Now Performance Tour’, Humber Street Gallery in Hull, NN Contemporary Art in Northampton, and ICA in London.
2023 ‘La Loca’, South London Gallery, London
2022 ‘Behavioural Garments’, Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, London
2022 ‘New Contemporaries’, Humber Street Gallery, Ferens Art Gallery, and South London Gallery, UK
2022 ‘Enigma of Arrival’, Gallery V and Cambridge University, Cambridge
2021 ‘Journeys: The Healing Arts’, Commissioned by CW+ Charity, Saatchi Gallery, London
2021 ‘Lumen Art Biennial, 4th Edition’, The Museum of Mexico City, Mexico
2021 ‘Weaving Worlds’, Somers Gallery, London
2021 ‘Diasporas Now, Performance as Radical Acts of Representation’, Cromwell Place, London
2021 ‘Everything Forever’, Mattflix, Matts Gallery, London
2020 ‘Tomorrow:London’, White Cube Gallery, London
2020 ‘Love Bug’, Outsight Gallery, Seoul
2020 ‘Imminent Vibrational Logic’, South Kiosk Art Space, London
2019 ‘Aglomeraciones’, Seminary of Culture, Mexico City
2019 ‘How Are You Babe’, Blank100, London
Awards and Residencies
2024 Arte Lagos Residency, Mexico City
2022 Shortlisted for Hari Art Prize
2022 Longlisted for LUMEN Prize
2022 New Contemporaries, London
2022 Award winner of the Travers Smith CSR Art Programme, London
2021 Arte Lumen Art Biennial, 4th edition, finalist, Mexico
2020 Contigo A Distancia, Art Bursary, FONCA, Mexico
2020 Shortlisted for Camaradas Contest by British Council and Mexican Embassy, London
2019 Scholarship, Continuation fund, Villiers David Foundation, and Royal College of Art
2017 Artist in residency, Halka Art Project, Istanbul
2016 Artist in residency, Liquid Rooms, Ca´Zanardi, Venice
Additional Education
2011 Diploma in Mixed Media and Painting, Central Saint Martins, London
2011 Diploma in Web Design and Editing, Central Saint Martins, London
2011 Diploma in Art Direction, Central Saint Martins, London
Teaching and Lecturing
2024 Associate Lecturer, London South Bank University
2023 Lecture at Central Saint Martins, UAL
2023 Lecture at The Royal College of Art with Diasporas Now
2022 Digital Arts Workshop Leader, Holborn Community Centre, London
2020 Visiting Tutor at the University of Northampton
2020 Visiting Tutor at CASS School of Art, London Metropolitan