In a curated setting at the The Tile Gallery showroom, architects, designers, and media guests were transported into the immersive world of Italian contemporary lighting brand Lodes, where light illuminated the space through sculptural forms and innovative materiality. The Language of Light event presented a selection of Lodes’ established collections alongside new releases, revealing the […]
‘A Place to Let Go’: Pattpiha Takes a Journey of Self-Conviction Through Art
Recommended Video
Tap to Unmute
Unmute
0:00
0:00
A Place to Let Go, the first exhibit of Pattpiha at Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery, works to capture the artist’s inner life. The exhibition adopts a chaotic, surrealistic look as a way of peering into the feelings of the author at this stage in their life.
A collection of paintings, sculptures, and various artistic touches portray the interconnectedness of her artworks with her emotions, painting a muted-by-vivid representation of the self as the artist sees it. The works demonstrate how self-conviction and self-doubt can co-exist, which in turn allow us to move forward to the next thing in our lives.
“[It] captures her journey as she navigates through these negative and positive emotions,” the exhibit write-up said. “It is the exploration of her art’s expansion-from journal drawings and personal experiences to now being able to paint and sculpt as a way to let go.”
Vibrancy in Sadness
The most unique aspect of A Place to Let Go is the strange color scheme. Its works use neon-like shades of pink, colors that typically pop out in bright, flashy ways in other contexts. But here, the brightness of these colors appear dimmed, which appear to reflect the differing emotions of the author.
The elements here seem to clash against each other thematically. For example, the cartoonish art typically used for whimsical subjects hides the darker themes being explored by the artist. Many of the characters are in these fantastical settings, and yet their demeanor and atmosphere looks ambivalent, even grieving at times. It’s an interesting juxtaposition of how positive and negative emotions can coexist together.
Dark but Neon
Pattpiha herself said that the color palette, described as “dark but neon,” came about due to the colors she had at hand and the different lighting in her room. Still, she said, she enjoys the way people reinterpret the emotional nature of the works from the color paired with the images.
“Feel ko, itong combination ng colors na ito, parang random siya,” she said. “Pero ang interesting pag na-vi-view siya ng tao, it looks cohesive, it looks intentional. But it’s more of like, ‘oh, ito ang green na I have. Maybe if I put some yellow, it will brighten up.’
“Yung parang contradicting na elements ay na-se-serve yung subject na iyon kasi hindi ako ang nag-dicta. So interesting, na parang, ‘huy, ano ang input mo,’ so nadadala ko siya along the way.”
[“I feel that these combination of colors are random. But it’s interesting when people view it, it looks cohesive and intentional.”]
[“These contradicting elements serve the subject because I’m not dictating it. It’s interesting, like I can go to people and go, ‘hey, what’s your input?’ and I’m able to bring that along the way.”]
Representing Inner Turmoil
One painting, “Look Closely,” leaves the character peering through a happy horizon with suspicion. Pattpiha said that this was an intentional move to showcase how people tend to expect the worst even when faced with happy situations. She calls this the person’s armor, a way to protect themselves from the disappointment of being too happy in life.
“It’s more of like nandoon ka na sa bagay na ginusto mo noon pero since nag-go-grow tayo, there are times that na kahit nakuha mo na ang gusto mo, may nire-reserve—kaya siya naka-eye patch—may nire reserve ka na percentage na parang ‘something bad is gonna happen,’” she said.
“Kahit na parang sinasabi naman yung universe na no, ito na, ito na yung good thing na hinahanap mo. It’s more parang, yes, thank you, but parang maybe may mangyayari. So I need to expect it.
[“It’s more like you’re here at the place you want to be, but because of our personal growth, there are times where we get what we want and we still reserve a percentage of ourselves to believe ‘something bad is going to happen.’ No matter what even the universe says that this is the good thing you’re looking for, it’s more the need to expect something to happen.”]
Accepting the Self
Overall, A Place to Let Go reflects the artist’s need to find control of their feelings as they experience the ups and downs of life. She reflected that the negatives of the past tend to loom over the positive experiences. Thus, one needs a place where we can let go of these emotions and exist with the contradictory feelings that these contain.
“It’s basically a journey of self-doubt, but then being able to get back to it again,” Pattpiha said. “Like, waking yourself up now, parang all of what’s happening to me is a bit [of] a downer. But still, hindi naman natin alam lahat ng future natin.
“So, just keep going and have a place to let go. Like art, or music, or writing. [It] just so happens na right now ang medium ko is painting, but I think lahat naman tayo may simple ways of letting go. So for me, this is a place to let go.”
A Place to Let Go is open at Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery until February 11.
Photos by Elle Yap.
Related reading: ‘Places Within’ Reflect the Emotional Resonance of Our Environment
Frequently Asked Questions
The exhibit explores the artist’s inner journey of self-conviction and self-doubt, illustrating how positive and negative emotions coexist. Through surrealist paintings and sculptures, Pattpiha creates a visual diary that universalizes personal struggles, ultimately serving as a creative outlet to release past turmoils and navigate life’s uncertainties.
Pattpiha describes her color scheme as a “random” yet cohesive combination born from the specific materials and lighting available in her studio. This “dark but neon” aesthetic uses dimmed vibrant shades to mirror complex emotional states, allowing viewers to find intentional meaning in the contradiction between bright colors and somber themes.
In ‘Look Closely,’ the character peers suspiciously at a happy horizon through an eyepatch to represent the “armor” people wear to protect themselves from disappointment. This intentional detail showcases the human tendency to expect negative outcomes even when experiencing success, highlighting the lingering presence of self-preservation amidst growth.
The exhibit utilizes a whimsical, cartoonish art style to explore heavy, surrealistic, and often darker emotional themes like grief and ambivalence. This juxtaposition demonstrates that vibrancy and sadness are not mutually exclusive, pushing the audience to see how fantastical settings can hide and process deep-seated personal anxieties.
The exhibition is hosted at the Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery and marks Pattpiha’s first solo show, transitioning her work from private journal drawings to public sculptures and paintings. It represents her personal “place to let go,” advocating that everyone needs a creative medium to process the downs of life and keep moving forward.
Once defined primarily by function, the bathroom is now becoming a space that reflects personal lifestyles. As broader design aspirations change in response, so do expectations of the products that shape these spaces. From customizable fixtures to touchless technologies, today’s bathroom solutions are increasingly designed around the way people live. COTTO’s KLIRR Collection highlights several […]
Many people only notice good design when it is absent. A faucet that splashes too far, feels awkward in the hand, or sits slightly out of alignment can disrupt a routine in ways that are subtle yet persistent. These are small irritations, but they reveal a larger truth: the objects used every day often have […]
Running from November 27, 2025, to May 31, 2026, the exhibition traces how Art Deco moved from global design movement to localized expression through Philippine architecture, furnishings, fashion, and everyday life. The National Museum of Fine Arts’ Art Deco: Modernity and Design in the Philippines 1925-1950 explored the history of the Art Deco style in […]
Flooring can profoundly influence how a space is experienced. Long before furniture and finishes are introduced, the floor establishes a visual field that shapes movement, light, and proportion. This is where large-format tiles are particularly effective. By reducing the number of grout lines across a floor or wall, they create a more continuous surface. The […]
Since setting up her design firm, MB Architecture Studio, in 2007, Ar. Micaela Benedicto has built a diverse portfolio of architectural projects. Her works, whether residential or commercial, showcase a distinct spatial quality, “I like to create things that can go from something static to something that is alive and reactive,” Benedicto states. “In creating […]
Download this month's BLUPRINT magazine digital copy from:
Subscribe via [email protected]