Culture
Meet Bianca Pascual, the Filipina Artist Emerging in Dubai's Creative Scene
Amid illness and grief, the artist found clarity on canvas through vivid color.
Published on May 29, 2025
Bianca Pascual never has recollections of her epileptic seizures. They’re related to her mild cerebral atrophy, a gradual shrinking of the brain tissue. After the seizure, she just wakes up disoriented and sore, with the past three minutes of muscle contractions, loss of consciousness, and life-threatening breathing difficulties fading straight into obscurity.
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It’s a striking contrast to when she paints. “It’s like dancing to my mind’s own rhythm,” she says. With a headset plugged in her ears, she is possessed by adrenaline, pouring out all her emotions on canvas without restraint. Deploying acrylic with every vibrant gash, she splashes cobalt, marigold, ruby, and at least 17 other colors into a visceral mosh pit of raw and primal energy. Through her work, she captures feelings that are fleeting, abundant, and intimate, illustrating a state of mind that is the complete opposite of the blankness of a seizure.
“When I paint, I am transported to another world—a world only I can see. A world full of colors,” says Bianca. “I express myself fully in my painting.”
Emerging from Obscurity
Only 15 days had passed since her father’s death when Bianca boarded a plane to Dubai. Her work was scheduled to be exhibited at World Art Dubai, one of the largest art fairs in the world. The tears have barely dried, but already, life was whooshing by. Donning a black Filipiniana, she greeted the Emirati art patrons who fawned over her work.
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On BIANCA: Sophia Tulle Skirt, P6000, KUL OFFICIAL, kulofficial.com. (PHOTO: Joseph Pascual).
Bianca, who is only turning 30 this June, is new to the scene. Growing up in an ordinary, middle-class family of four in Quezon City, she received no formal arts training whatsoever growing up. An advertising graduate from Colegio de San Juan de Letran, she previously dabbled in the industry before discovering her talent in painting about five years ago, at the height of the pandemic. While other people were in their “plantita” era, she picked up a brush. She found a flower and painted an abstract version of it, posted it on Facebook, and received inquiries from buyers.
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PHOTO: Joseph Pascual.
In no time, collectors were waiting for her next work. She fostered a clientele that includes a legendary singer, a shipping magnate, and the chair of one of the country’s largest banks. But her biggest sponsor so far has been philanthropist Rolando Paculaba, who financed her Dubai exhibition.
For the art fair, she was scouted by the Dubai International Art Centre, the city’s oldest community art hub. After a rigorous selection process, she presented six works—all of which sold out. “I think as an emerging artist,” said the center’s chair Diyali Sen Bhalla, “she is one to look out for.”
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PHOTO: Joseph Pascual.
When she arrived at the Dubai World Trade Centre, the venue of the exhibition, artists from the inaugural Philippine Pavilion were surprised to discover a fellow Filipino under a Dubai-based gallery. At first, this made her feel alienated, and for a while, she questioned her place in the local art scene. It didn’t help that she was grieving, and none of her family was with her during the trip. Bianca, a discovery to the Emirati, was unknown to the Filipino art circle.
But a sheikh told her: “Art has no country. Wherever you are, you are Bianca Pascual, not just the Filipino, but Bianca Pascual, the artist.”
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PHOTO: Joseph Pascual.
In the Mood to Paint
“I am what they call in the art world a mood artist,” Bianca says. “The layers and textures I create, the intensity, my passion, you can all see those impulses and control, or lack thereof.”
The longest she waited for the right mood to paint was nine months—with a buyer waiting for his commission. This buyer was getting a new house constructed, but the house was finished before the paintings arrived.
The buyer had a mouthful to say to Bianca, who then took every painful word as an early lesson in professionalism. From there, Bianca learned to manage clients’ expectations and work more efficiently. She has since mended the relationship with that buyer, who is still an active collector.
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PHOTO: Joseph Pascual.
Bianca’s moodiness can perhaps be traced to another long-standing health condition. She has polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS, a hormonal disorder. It’s a scourge for many women of reproductive age, who experience moodiness due to hormonal imbalances, insulin resistance, and the emotional toll of managing symptoms. To add to this, as an epileptic, she is constantly chased by the uncertainty of her life-threatening seizures. Never knowing when or where they might strike, she often finds herself in a state of fear, stress, and helplessness.
Painting became her outlet. Her doctor said her newfound hobby, now a profession, was reducing her seizures.
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PHOTO: Joseph Pascual.
In the right headspace, Bianca can work on a piece in as fast as 15 minutes and come up overnight with as many as seven new pieces. She doesn’t do outlines, swatches, or mockups. Collectors praise her work for her use of color: she can combine pastels with neons, metallics with monochromes, harmonizing up to 20 colors in a singular work.
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PHOTO: Joseph Pascual.
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PHOTO: Joseph Pascual.
The secret, she says, is her mastery of her arm’s weight. When picking up paint with a brush, she knows exactly how much acrylic will splatter on the canvas depending on the strength of her throw. From there, she layers colors to her heart’s content, relying only on her eye to assess how bright the piece will be.
“We often hear that art is a form of therapy,” she said. “In my case, it has allowed me to express feelings I couldn’t verbalize.”
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PHOTO: Joseph Pascual.
Moving Forward in Color
Now, she’s steadily building a body of work for exhibitions here and abroad. As of this writing, her ongoing group exhibition with the Dubai International Art Centre has made a world record for “largest small canvas art exhibition,” with 101 artists. She also has pending invitations in Milan, Tokyo, and New York City for the rest of the year. In Manila, she has an upcoming group show on June 14th at 22nd & 5th Gallery, Greenhills Town Center.
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On BIANCA: Cecilia Long Back Top, P7500; Naomi Side Slit Pants, P2700, all from KUL OFFICIAL. kulofficial.com. (PHOTO: Joseph Pascual).
She’s carving her own path in a style that is just as unconventional as her work. With every flick of the brush, she rises above her health conditions and life’s other crucibles, filling up every white space with color. With brain atrophy, she doesn’t know until when she can paint, but she is using all her strength now to claim and reclaim her power.
“It’s pure magic. I could express both my fears and my happiness at the same time,” she said. “I paint to pass on that light.”
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PHOTO: Joseph Pascual.
Produced and Styled by the Preview Team
Editor-in-Chief: Marj Ramos-Clemente
Creative Director: Bacs Arcebal
Managing Editor: Reg Rodriguez
Producer: Katrina Maisie Cabral
Assoc. Multimedia Director: Jana Jodloman
Photographed by Joseph Pascual. Styled by Katrina Maisie Cabral. Makeup and hairstyle by Janzeil Siachongco. Story by Pola del Monte. Video direction by Jana Jodloman. Social media coverage by Sophia Rosello. Shot on location at 22nd & 5th Gallery.
Pola del Monte is a journalist, former UN Women consultant and Cosmo Women of Influence 2024 Awardee. She posts about writing, communication and media literacy on Instagram: @MissChiefEditor.