Provenance Art Gallery presents Katrina Cuenca’s solo exhibition, Polychroma, her first with the gallery. In a suite of works in varying scales and compositional configurations, the show underscores her forays into the vocabulary of color—from soft pastels to deep, vivid hues. As her primary expressive vehicle, color evokes a myriad of emotional tones and undertones, which Cuenca arranges on canvas as interrelated forms.

Speaking of forms, Cuenca’s new collection introduces a lush complexity to her signature petaline striated shapes. These forms, true to Cuenca’s abstract language, curve, billow, and flourish with a rhythm that balances symmetry and improvisation, creating compositions that appear both deliberate and spontaneous.

While her signature gold remains prominent, which may just be referred to as the “Cuenca gold,” the artist experiments boldly with new metallic color palettes—introducing blue, green, an pink backgrounds that bring depth and dimension to her works. Usually set against an opaque field and further framed in black, the pieces gleam and shimmer, amplifying the dance of light and color within each composition.

Often described as feminine, Cuenca’s work is underscored by a rigorous, disciplined approach, honed through years of dedication to her craft. Throughout her career, her meticulous attention to form has evolved into a unique visual vocabulary—a symphony of shapes, hues, and spaces that speaks to the height of abstraction in contemporary art.

In Polychroma, Cuenca extends her artistic vision into the realm of functional sculpture with a beautifully crafted rocking chair. The curvilinear form of the chair is enhanced by her hand-painted floral motifs, with its central cutout reflecting the same organic shapes seen in her paintings. This fusion of art and design completes the masterful vision of Polychroma, which celebrates the vitality and complexity of life at home with growth, flourishing, blossoming.

Written by Carlomar Arcangel Daoana