Visual artist Paulina Luz Sotto has lent her talent to create the store marker and jeepney art installation for Mang Inasal.
The collaboration is part of the chicken inasal chain’s 600th store milestone. The jeepney symbolizes the journey of Mang Inasal toward becoming a national icon in the quick service restaurant industry, with its truly Pinoy offerings and celebration of the Filipino dining culture.
Sotto, granddaughter of National Artist Arturo Luz and the daughter of Vic Sotto and Angela Luz, refers to her design as “The Gridlock,” which she clarifies does not refer to a traffic gridlock.
“It is a play on different shapes and colors,” she shares.
She adds, “To me, the imperfect shapes fit together in a way that they can’t be moved or adjusted, hence the series title. Aside from its clean aesthetic, the shapes also represent the different elements of Mang Inasal, big and small, coming together to form one cohesive unit. It may not be perfect, but it works.”
The 28-year-old painter shares that even when she spent so much time with her grandfather Arturo Luz, he really did not teach her technical things about art. “We’re both Scorpios. We like to be alone when we work, so he never tried to influence me in any way to be an artist.”
In fact, the Communication graduate from Ateneo de Manila University, relates that being an artist has never really crossed her mind. It was not until December 2015 when she discovered her fascination with lines.
Eventually, an old friend asked if her abstract paintings were for sale, and that was when her career in visual arts began.
Today, Sotto simply hopes that in the long-term, she would still be doing what her busy hands are on right now. “I just want to keep painting and follow what I’m feeling.”
Paulina Luz Sotto is now dedicated to her pursuit as a full-time visual artist. Having had three successful solo exhibits, alongside a few collective art shows, Sotto has now sold hundreds of abstract paintings in a span of four years.
Well-known for her fascination of clean lines, all of her paintings center on one belief: the beauty in simplicity.
