Paola Estrella is a multimedia artist 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. She explores the intersections of imagination and perception, drawing on transcendent experiences and the entanglements between technology, mythology, and ecology. 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.
Estrella has presented work at Goldsmiths Centre of Contemporary Art, South London Gallery, and Institute of Contemporary Art in London, with exhibitions including the Museum of Mexico City, Franz Mayer Museum, New Contemporaries, Saatchi Gallery, and White Cube Gallery, among others. She holds an MA from the Royal College of Art. Estrella is currently artist-in-residence at ICA London with the collective Diasporas Now.
Contact
M: estrella.disg@gmail.com
IG: @py_star | In: Paola Estrella
CV
Education
2018-2021, MA Contemporary Art, Royal College of Art, London
2007-2012, BA New Media and Art Direction, IBERO University, Mexico
2011, Diplomas in Mixed Media & Painting, Art Direction, Central Saint Martins, London
Upcoming Exhibitions
13.11.2025 ‘The Cenote Ring’, performance, MIRA Art Fair, curated by Noelia Portela, Paris
Recent Exhibitions
2025 – ‘Sounding Futures’, Diasporas Now, performance, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
2025 – ‘Tender Threads’, performance, Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, London
2025 ‘The Cenote Ring’, performance, Stone Nest, London
2025 ‘The Cenote Ring’, exhibition, HS Projects, London
2025 Guest Artist, Embassy of Mexico in the UK, London
2025 ‘The Cenote Ring’, performance during Art Week Mexico City at Soho House
2025 ‘The Cenote Ring’, Studio Berlin, Mexico City
2025 ‘Creatures of Habit’, London Art Fair with Metamorphika Studio, London
2024 ‘In Between’, LatinxTakeover’, Victoria and Albert Museum, UCL East, Performing The Cenote Ring, London
2024 ‘The Fire’, Display Fever, Metamorphika Studio, London
2024 ‘Speculative Land(e)scapes’, Silian Gallery, 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 Biennale, 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
Awards and Residencies
2025 – Arts Council England, National Lottery Project Grants
2025-2026 – Residency, Diasporas Now, Institute of Contemporary Art, London
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
Teaching and Lecturing
2025 Transart Institute, Swarm Symposium, London
2025-2026 Lecturer, ICA Creatives with Diasporas Now, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
2021-2026 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