Maritess De Ocampo

Parallel Light by Butchie Pena and Kat Ong

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<p>In <em>Parallel Light</em>, artists<a href="https://www.instagram.com/katongers/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a>Kat Ong and Butchie Peña come together in a two-woman exhibition that explores light not merely as illumination.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:514px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779885137375PL Thumbnail.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>Butchie Peña and Kat Ong&#x27;s Parallel Light is a joint exhibit in Altro Mondo at The Picasso running until June 29</em><br/></span></span></span>Though their artistic languages differ dramatically, both artists share a fascination with the unseen ways light shapes human experience. One approaches it through movement, vibrancy, and spiritual energy; the other through quietude, restraint, and contemplative stillness.</div><div><strong>Light as energy and imagination</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:513.865px;display:block" width="513.865"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779885754377PL 2.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:513.865px;height:auto" width="513.865"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>Kat Ong</em></span></span></span></strong>Kat Ong’s paintings are characterized by vitality. Her work features an imaginative universe where feminine figures, crystalline forms, botanicals, and winged creatures converge in layered compositions that feel dreamlike and intuitive. Known for her expressive use of color and textures, at the heart of Ong’s work is a belief in light as living energy.</div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:513.865px;display:block" width="513.865"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779885369492PL 8.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:513.865px;display:block;height:auto" width="513.865"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>&quot;Kaleidosoul,&quot; Acrylic on Canvas, 18&quot;x24,&quot; 2026 | by Kat Ong</em></span></span></span>When asked what emotional experience she hopes viewers encounter through her imagined worlds, Ong shares:<br/><br/>“I want people who see my paintings to feel intense desire. I want the energy of the paintings to carry them away, to make them to feel, to make them passionate, to make them believe that there is a more vibrant layer in our existence, not seen by the eyes but seen by the heart. Because that is what I feel when creating and looking at these paintings. I live a pretty simple life, but like my bold expressionist paintings, I also look at life in a kaleidoscopic vision, where everything is more colorful, vibrant, alive, and we fall in love again and again with the music of life (colors, art, fashion, songs etc). So it’s a party everyday inside my mind, but outside I remain simple and grounded and I become completely ok with it.  Because I have this imagined world. “</div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:514px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779885846436PL 9.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>&quot;Soul Rave,&quot; Acrylic on Canvas, 36&quot;x24,&quot; 2026 | by Kat Ong</em></span></span></span>For Ong, light itself carries profound meaning:<br/><br/>“In Genesis 1:3, God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” This is one of His most important creations, and the only thing that beats the darkness of our world. Scientifically speaking, all the images and colors we see are visible to our eyes because of how we read wavelengths. So for me, light is color, light is imagery, light is beauty, light is life.”</div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:514px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779886032619PL 10.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>&quot;Technoheart,&quot; Acrylic on Canvas, 36&quot;x24,&quot; 2026 | by Kat Ong</em></span></span></span></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/people-culture-events/2026/5/20/hinga-idr-cecil-ravelas-designing-spaces-that-let-us-breathe-again-2327" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: HINGA: Designing spaces that let us breathe again</a></div><div><strong>The poetry of quiet spaces</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:513.865px;display:block" width="513.865"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779886219176PL 3.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:513.865px;height:auto" width="513.865"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>Butchie Peña</em> </span></span></span></strong></div><p>In contrast, Butchie Peña’s paintings speak in quieter tones. Her works are seen in intimate interiors and still life compositions where light settles gently across everyday objects; walls softened by time, vessels resting in silence, windows filtering delicate shadows onto tables and empty spaces, creating meditative environments that encourage stillness and reflection.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:513.865px;display:block" width="513.865"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779886291919PL 5.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:513.865px;height:auto" width="513.865"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>&quot;Velvet Shadows,&quot; Acrylic/Gouache, 12&quot;x12,&quot; 2025|&quot;Where darkness softens into luxurious depth.&quot;| by Butchie Peña </em></span></span></span>Nothing appears hurried. Instead, Peña allows the ordinary to unfold slowly, revealing the poetry hidden within familiar spaces.<br/><br/>Reflecting on her evolving artistic language and attraction to stillness, Peña explains:<br/><br/>“I’d like to think that my art is still in transition although hints of still life remain,  I try to create a space between observation and abstraction which prods me sometimes to do a straight abstract but then one might observe a certain restraint and then the stillness. There is an integration of forms, distressed, textured backgrounds that often move toward abstraction. Always been fascinated by quiet still life.<br/>An old jar, a lone simple bench, a decrepit window…it explores the relationship between object, space, and surface. The background becomes an active element, balancing the solidity of the still life in the midst of areas of abstraction.”</div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:514px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779886753040PL 6.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>&quot;State of Stillness,&quot; Acrylic/ Mixed Media on Canvas, 24&quot;x24,&quot; 2026| &quot;Where peace resides and thoughts find their repose.&quot; | by Butchie Peña </em> </span></span></span></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/people-culture-events/2026/5/24/-mga-kuwento-ni-lola-basyang-gets-fresh-retellings-new-illustrations-1400" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: &#x27;Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang&#x27; gets fresh retellings, new illustrations</a></div><div><strong>Stillness amid an overstimulated world</strong></div><p>While Ong’s work radiates movement and exuberance, Peña’s invites viewers toward pause and contemplation. Yet both artists ultimately seek emotional connection through light, whether vibrant and transcendent or soft and grounding.<br/><br/>Asked how necessary the role of contemplative art might play in an overstimulated world, Peña shares:<br/><br/>“I can’t say it’s necessary but perhaps to those who prefer the feeling of a coexistence of still, ordinary objects and abstraction, this maybe a pleasant encounter with calm and serenity.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:514px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779886985458PL 7.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner"><em>&quot;Aged Resonance,&quot; Gouache/Acrylic, Archival Paper, 21.5&quot;x31,&quot; 2025| &quot;A quiet moment. A sharp beam of sunlight illuminates a simple bowl of fruit on a rustic table...&quot;| by Butchie Peña </em></span></span></span>There’s so much going on around us, sometimes, we are over stimulated by what we see and feel. It would be good to let the viewer, stop and wonder and eventually find some restraint to overthink and just feel the quietude.”<br/>Rather than opposing one another, the works in <em>Parallel Light</em> exist in conversation. The exhibition does not ask viewers to choose between silence and intensity, stillness and motion, softness and exuberance. Instead, it reveals how seemingly opposite energies can coexist and enrich one another.</div><div><em>Parallel Light is on exhibition until June 29, 2026 at Altro Mondo at the Picasso located in the third floor of The Picasso Boutique Serviced Residences in 119 L.P. Leviste St. Salcedo Village, Makati. Visit the </em><a href="https://altromondo.com.ph/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>website</em></a><em> or contact (+632)856 367 52 for inquiries.</em><br/><br/><br/></div>

<p>In <i>Parallel Light</i>, <u>Kat Ong</u> and <u>Butchie Peña</u> create a visual dialogue between motion and stillness, intensity and restraint. Their works offer two distinct yet resonant perspectives on light as beauty, presence, and transformation.</p>

In Parallel Light , Kat Ong and Butchie Peña create a visual dialogue between motion and stillness, intensity and restraint. Their works offer two distinct yet resonant perspectives on light as beauty, presence, and transformation.

How Kat Ong and Butchie Peña use light to explore emotion and stillness in 'Parallel Light'

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How Kat Ong and Butchie Peña use light to explore emotion and stillness in 'Parallel Light'

Mawi Fojas De Ocampo

Published May 27, 2026 09:22 PM PHT

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Updated May 27, 2026 09:29 PM PHT

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Parallel Light

Kat Ong

Butchie Peña

Filipino Art

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Altro Mondo At The Picasso

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