For Paola Estrella, magic is a form of knowledge, not illusion, but a way of apprehending what resists ordinary explanation. Working across painting, performance, video, and installation, she uses speculative fiction to open space where alternative worldviews can coexist, examining how meaning is formed and how we come to agree on what is real.
Her practice moves at the intersection of ecology, spirituality, and technology, allowing different forms of experience to meet without hierarchy. Rather than resolving these tensions, her work holds them open, inviting reflection on the porous boundaries between identity, belief, and perception.
Collaboration is central to how Estrella works and thinks. Alongside her exhibitions, she develops workshops and shared formats that treat artistic practice as a site of transmission and collective authorship, spaces where making and meaning happen together.
Her work has been presented at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, South London Gallery, and Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, and exhibited internationally at the Museum of Mexico City, Franz Mayer Museum, New Contemporaries, Saatchi Gallery, and White Cube. She holds an MA from the Royal College of Art.
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
Recent Exhibitions
2026 ‘Form’, Cramer Street Gallery & London Art Fair, London
2025 ‘Work In Progress’, performance, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
2025 ‘The Cenote Ring’, performance, MIRA Art Fair, curated by Noelia Portela, Paris
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 - Women’s Day’, Embassy of Mexico in the UK, London
2025 ‘The Cenote Ring’, 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
2023 ‘New Contemporaries’, South London Gallery, London
2022 ‘Behavioural Garments’, Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, London
2022 ‘Bloomberg Contemporaries’, Humber Street Gallery & Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, 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
2025-2026 Residency, Diasporas Now, Institute of Contemporary Art, London
2025 Arts Council England, National Lottery Project Grants
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 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
2025-2026 Lecturer, ICA Creatives with Diasporas Now, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
2021-2026 Lecturer, BA Photography, London South Bank University, London
2025 Transart Institute, Swarm Symposium, London
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