In her more than three decades of painting, Filipina contemporary artist Pardo de Leon has amassed a body of work marked by the transformation of found images, mostly sourced from photographs, by an approach to painting that shifts from from playful and instinctual to methodical and cerebral. Flowers, fragments from the paintings of old masters, fishing lures, geometric patterns, and the like are zoomed-in on, layered, and juxtaposed in impastos of lush and variegated textures.

By transforming these images, De Leon's paintings lure the viewer into a kind of game of unexpected meanings and obscured corollary associations. They dwell somewhere between abstraction and figuration as surprising aspects and overlooked details are emphasized by painterly effects.

Pardo de Leon graduated from the University of the Philippines with a degree in Fine Arts. She was the recipient of the 13 artists award from the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) in 1988. In 1999, De Leon was awarded a studio residency grant by Italian-Swedish Cultural Foundation in Venice. Her exhibited work from this residency was then awarded best show of the year by the state council. She has participated in solo and group exhibitions in various galleries and institutions, including Future Prospects, West Gallery, Mag:net, Big Sky Mind, Galerie Hans Brumann, the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore at La Salle College of the Arts, Finale Art File, and the CCP.