Painted Textile Collages by JK Garrity

T E X T I L E

COLLAGES

TEXTILE COLLAGES Pacita Abad’s Painted Textiles

Cover: Ikat-inspired door (detail), 1998 (12 x 12 in) Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Painted Textiles Embracing the Blues Java Sumba Sumatra, Sulawesi & Borneo Mindanao Yemen Rajasthan Singapore Places in Between Artist Profile

PAINTED TEXTILES

Woman of Color

Pacita Abad's painting is characterized by color, continuous change and experimentation from the 1970s right up to her passing in 2004. While some artists maintain one particular style throughout their careers, Pacita never repeated her work and always kept exploring new techniques, subject matters and materials. The one constant throughout her artistic career was her bold and vibrant use of color.

Pacita's paintings in the late 1970s and early 1980s were in some ways a travel diary of the places throughout the world where she lived and painted: Bangladesh, India, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Guatemala, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Sudan/South Sudan and Kenya, among others. Thus, her early paintings were primarily figurative, socio-political works of urban and rural scenes, and refugees drawn from her experiences living overseas.

In the 1980s she followed her passion for tribal art and traditional textiles by creating her Masks and Spirits series, followed by three different bodies of work consisting of large nature paintings from her deep water scuba diving experiences, animal wildlife adventures, and her love of tropical flowers.

However, Pacita's most extensive and well-known body of work is her vibrantly colorful abstract, stitched, mixed media paintings. Almost all of

which, are hand-stitched paintings embellished with diverse combinations of textiles and an array of objects and found materials. Overall, she created more than a thousand mixed media, hand-stitched artworks between 1981 and 2004. Most of her stitched paintings were abstract designs, though a number of them continued to be narrative.

In addition to her stitched paintings, throughout her 32-year career Pacita constantly explored new techniques and processes, as she completed multiple artworks on a range of materials, creating colorful prints, paper collages, ceramics, painted glass, wearable art and public art installations. A disciplined and prolific painter, she created over 4,500 artworks and among her public art projects painted a 55-meter long bridge in Singapore, covering it with over 2,000 multicolored circles a few months before she died.

Textile Collages

Pacita was one of the few artists who successfully merged traditional textiles with contemporary painting. Like her signature combinations of vibrant colors, her incorporation of a complete range of collaged textiles from gauze and burlap to batik and woven ikat cloth, blend seamlessly in her artwork.

Although she never made much of a distinction, her more than 1,000 abstract stitched paintings are loosely classified under three categories: trapunto paintings, textile collages, and abstract assemblages. These are examined in: Painted Threads, Textile Collages and Abstract Assemblages.

Pacita's trapunto paintings were mostly created in the 1980s, while her textile collages were primarily done between 1994 and 2004, and abstract assemblages from 2000 to 2004. While her well-known trapunto paintings are large and quilted to give a sculptural, three-dimensional effect, her textile collages are not quilted but the painted textiles are stitched directly onto stretched or un-stretched canvas. Her abstract assemblages are similar to the textile collages, but are smaller stretched canvas and emphasize the use of a variety of found objects. The common factor among all three of Pacita’s hand-stitched paintings is that almost all include rich combinations of vivid paint, textiles, cloth and found objects.

Pacita's textile collages were done during different periods and started in Washington when she cut up some of her old paintings and incorporated pieces in new paintings. However, most textile collages were inspired by her travels, but were especially influenced by her living in Indonesia from 1993 t0 2000. There she was taken by the beauty of the wide range of traditional textiles from the countries far-flung islands, especially batik from Java, ikat from Sumba and weavings such as ulos, songket, tapis, pua kumbu and other wonderful handwoven cloth from Sumatra, Sulawesi and Borneo. Over a seven-year period Pacita constantly traveled around the country by plane, boat and road exploring the varied cultures and always looking for bits of cloth that she would later use in her paintings.

Pacita said, “I have always been fascinated by textiles, but when I lived in Indonesia, I was overwhelmed by the intricate beauty of batik and the boldness of the ikats. I lived in Indonesia for over seven years and during those times my paintings were so fabric oriented. I was fascinated by all the textiles I saw, and I knew right there that these fabrics would make great collages with acrylics. I would spend weeks traveling all over the country just to look at fabrics .... After awhile, I began sewing them onto my paintings. It was also in this series that I discovered how interesting it is to put together a rich collection of batiks and handwoven cloths with oil paints."

Pacita’s travels were by no means limited to Indonesia, as she also took extensive trips to countries including Australia (1997), Yemen (1999), India (2000), Scandinavia (2001, 2003) and Japan (2004) among other places, which also resulted in new textile collage painting series. After moving to Singapore, in 2001 Pacita was diagnosed with cancer and underwent serious medical treatments over the following three years. During this time she continued to feverishly paint in her studio, escaping the country to travel whenever she could. Her last major series of large textile collage paintings she called Endless Blues, after that she began to focus on smaller textile collages and abstract assemblages. Pacita’s final textile collage paintings were inspired by the old kimonos that she brought back from a trip to Tokyo, which she then used to wrap and paint on plate-sized cardboard circles.

EMBRACING THE BLUES

The following essay, “Exploring The Spirit and The Senses”, is from Exploring the Spirit (1996) by Ian Findlay-Brown, which discusses Pacita’s abstract trapunto paintings.

Pacita Abad cannot be said to be a predictable artist. Her explorations of the unpredictability of life through travel and her art confirm this. She is also not an artist who is seduced by the easy option when it would have been much simpler to have succumbed to it to achieve a competent result. But this is not Abad's way. Her strong line, her attention to color, her willingness to stitch and sew and to use collage and to employ an uncommon variety of materials to obtain her desired end are all elements in her complex art that reflect very different parts of her life and personality. The complexity of her art, as seen in her recent works, collected under the title Endless Blues, is an extension of her interaction with the real world and real cultures There is nothing false in the expression of her sentiments which is why the viewer is willing to confront it and to embrace it, even though they may not like it initially or intuitively.

For more than three decades, Abad's life has been filled with numerous personal and professional voyages of discovery. In an artist of Abad's standing such journeys have often been a union of the two for it has always been difficult for her to separate the private from the professional. Her travels have taken her to the United States, Africa, Europe, India, Korea,

Japan, and throughout Southeast Asia. Such journeys have resulted in a body of work that is a progression of ideas and accomplishments rather than a definitive statement. With each new time and place Abad's imagery has been enriched and her vision enhanced. Her images have come to form a complex narrative that has embraced everything from the figurative to the abstract utilizing a wide variety of materials. The wealth and dynamic of her art speaks directly to the viewer and the experience is augmented by our awareness of her processes, her markmaking, her construction. Through all of this the viewer is drawn into her world and eventually one is touched by something of the experience of being their own. The viewer's reality changes slowly from the objective to the subjective as they move into Abad's domain.

For many artists such a life of travel might result in a profusion of very different styles that might appear, on reflection, to be by different hands, disconnected through the sheer volume of visual engagement. This, however, is not the case with Abad's art. Her travels have led her to make art that shows us a determined search for both personal and artistic growth.

Rather than her work being a collection of disparate images, she has maintained an emotional and visual connectedness along the way, linking each step confidently, suggesting future voyages and a further broadening of her oeuvre.

Abad's searching has not been driven by the desire to merely record images of her travels on canvas or cloth or paper as a tourist might do with a camera.

It has been underpinned by a fundamental belief that there is a universality to art that, although it is expressed in very different ways in myriad cultural settings, is both an emotional and psychological experience that influences the spirit of all humanity. Her experiences with Cambodian refugees, the political and social disruption and oppression in the Philippines under Ferdinand Marcos, her engagement with immigration, and her exploration of native cultures in Indonesia, the Yemen, and Africa are all linked to her awareness of the struggles of the human spirit. Such serious matters should not suggest that Abad's work, however, is devoid of humor. On the contrary, there is an earthiness graced with humor to be found in many of her works and that resides in the mind's eye long after one has left the scene of the

work. In all its guises, whether it be her trapunto art or her simple or complex abstractions, her wayang figures or her rendering of architectural details, Abad's art is about a fundamental emotional need to turn the ordinary of the universal voice into the extraordinary.

One of the most important musical forms in the 20th century, the Blues influenced not only musician and songwriters, but artists of all stripes. With its often profoundly melancholy lyrics reflecting the harshness and tragedy of life, the Blues then might seem to be an odd choice for a painter to choose for the title of an exhibition. Abad's Endless Blues covers some 150 works stretching back to 1995, although the majority were completed during the past three years. The title might well suggest sadness and even melancholy given the artist's bout with cancer and many of the social crisis within the Philippines and Indonesia that many of her pieces reflect. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. Works such as Spring is Coming (2001), Blues Train to Yogya (2002), Day Dreaming (2002), Stella by Starlight (2002) and Blue (2002) defy the notion of despair. Within these pieces there is an abundance of color and movement, a sense of ferocious energy, a sense of sheer pleasure, and a positive dynamic that is life affirming in the same way that the Blues have always been. The voice of the Blues speaks to Abad on a variety of levels, a musical form that has initiated more than one personal journey, planted more than one memory from which to draw at a certain moment.

“The Blues have always been in my mind even more so with my recent health problems and the acts of terrorism, like September 11, that the world has been experiencing. Blues is a personal thing, a deeply personal experience. It can be a single experience or a happening. For 30 years of my life - since the early 1970s and my San Francisco days - I have been associated with the Blues in one way or another. When I stay at home alone and listen, the Blues talk to me. The Blues is an experience, it can be happy or sad for me. I never think of being alone as sad. I think of being alone as a luxury. I think it is selfish.�

Time and memory are powerful protagonists in Abad's world. The reality of place in her work is always strong, robust. Her work lacks the sentimentality

of that made by many artists whose lives have been full of travel. Reality drives Abad forward, it permeates her vision and her emotional and psychological balance; it underscores her perceptions of landscape and people, of tradition and culture, of success and failure, of her choice of colors and her basis of inspiration, of voyaging and returning home. The strength of her most recent work reflects her coming to terms with changes in her life, with adjustments to the crushing awareness of mortality, with the desire to seek our fresh avenues of visual exploration.

The most memorable recent period in Abad's art for many people is that which was dominated by her trapunto painting. This style of work involved quilting, painting, materials such as mirrors, sequins, buttons, thread, plastics, padded canvas, glass beads, and handmade paper, and much more.

Trapunto spoke to an enormous range of emotions and cultures. It spoke to the land and the sea, to people's livelihoods and to personal interaction.

Trapunto was a visual journey that embraced the painting of an artwork as much as it did construction of one. The relief sculptural element in trapunto reinforced this. This engagement with form and material on a level that had previously only been hinted at in Abad's work blossomed into a full-fledged eruption of creative force that seemed to overwhelm the senses with a dramatic overabundance of line, color, and materials. At times, it seemed that the materials, including paper and bark for example, were more important than the image. Those viewers who withheld immediate judgment were rewarded with revealing images of memorable drama in which the materials were clearly signposts in to the work itself where understanding was an astute combination of the cerebral and the visceral.

The dynamism of that time was a great pleasure for Abad. She reached creative levels that gobbled up her energy. Endless Blues represents work that is less busy with construction. Now the imagery is looser and more confident in a painterly sense. It is more stripped-down and collaged in a more relaxed, but no less dynamic, manner. It is in essence a return to painting predominately, although many works retain the spirit and some of the activity of trapunto. The works clearly show that there is not the timeconsuming interruptions experienced in image making that were present

with trapunto. Using rich oils more than acrylics has also added to the difference in surface textures. The surfaces are also enhanced by her clever use of cloth strips collaged onto the canvas.

“I enjoyed trapunto at the time. Now I want to concentrate more on painting I think all artists go through different periods with their media. If you don't force yourself, it flows more easily and is more spontaneous. I find it less of a struggle. You aren't contradicting yourself because you are doing exactly what you want to do.” And what Abad is doing is achieving a new level of lyrical painting that is clearly more engaged with the act of painting and its process.

Although many of the works are large, there are none monumental in scale, as was the case in a few of her trapunto pieces. In her more constructed earlier works there was occasionally a sense of the impersonal, but here in her most recent series there is a fresh lyricism. This is particularly true of large works such as I Have Got The Blues (2001), Lovers’ Garden (2002), Dancing in the Dark (2002), Color of My Dream (2002), Blues in The City (2002), Remembering Sumba (2002), Stella by Starlight (2002), and One Night Stand (2002). The mention of a lyrical quality may suggest to some people that there is an element of the sentimental within these works. This is not the case. Taken purely as complex images, and not with any particular message attached to them, these works show an artist whose desire is to move the viewer's eye around the canvas, slowly allowing the visual mind to embrace the content, to piece together their own narrative as their eyes “unwrap” the image.

More than ever Abad's recent paintings seem to be intimate, more willing to express a particular view rather than a general view of a culture, to reveal the personal rather than obscure it. By doing this she achieves a sense of poetry that is striking both in large-scale and small-scale pieces. Works such as Close to You (2001), Beside You (2001), Sweet Tara (2002), My Sequins Have Seeped Into Your Life (2002) and To Robert Cray (2002) represent just a part of the range of her poetic imagery. Occasionally some of the imagery may seem somewhat harsh in line and color, but it is neither contrived nor

Beside you, 2001 (12 x 12 in)

Oil, painted canvas stitched on canvas

designed to deceive the emotions of the viewer. Abad, even in her abstractions, above all takes the realist's view of life: It is harsh, unrelenting in its routine and gently rewarding and joyous by turns.

It is clear that the works brought together under the title Endless Bluesparticularly those made during the past two years-represent a move away from earlier dominant styles into areas that reveal new depths, emotional and psychological. Through the changes that Abad has recently experienced, her work also points to the beginnings of new voyages of exploration and

Close to you, 2001 (12 x 12 in)

Oil, painted canvas stitched on canvas

discovery. Previously much of her art dealt with the experiences of the physical world and her painterly reactions to that world. With a fresh attraction to the act of painting and the freedom of her brush, Abad would appear to be entering upon a more emotional expression of her private world. If one would require a muse then a tussle with the realization of one's mortality should provide it.

Ian Findlay-Brown is the founding editor/publisher of Asian Art News and World Sculpture News

JAVA

It is impossible for anyone to go to Indonesia’s most populous island of Java and not encounter the beauty of traditional batik, which is used for clothes as well as household apparel. Batik originated in Java and has been practiced for centuries - it is made with a unique technique of wax-resist dyeing on cotton cloth.

Pacita, like so many others, was drawn to the beauty, richness and diversity of traditional Javanese batik, which was worn by many people. As Pacita traveled around Java looking at different batik designs she noted that each town created their own distinctive batik style, which Indonesians could immediately identify based on their design and blend of colors.

"One of the best trips for me was to attend the batik festival in Yogyakarta. The most beautiful batiks are found in Solo and Yogyakarta ‌ During the years I lived in Indonesia, I tried to add these fabrics to my paintings like Bandung and A Sea of Red Flowers. Somehow the luminous oil paints and the vivid batiks go hand in hand, and you can see the effect in Blues train to Yogya and Feast for the Senses. These works were floor to ceiling high and it could not get higher as the ceiling at my studio was the basis for many of the sizes of my paintings.�

Opposite: Solo (detail), 1999 (63 x 39 in) Batik cloth stitched on canvas

Pacita’s studio home. Photo credit: Lester Ledesma

Pacita never could cut up a piece of batik, so on her village trips she was constantly on the lookout for scraps left over from making clothes or household items. She was always coming home with bags of batik scraps, which she soon sewed on to her canvases and then painted over them to create her multi-colored canvas collages. Pacita loved doing this and it gave her the freedom to create the piece in any way she wanted to go.

Pacita not only created batik paintings in Jakarta, but batik also became her daily wear and because of this, her dark complexion and shared Malay heritage, almost everybody thought that she was Indonesian.

With her passion for Indonesian textiles, Pacita covered the wooden furniture of her studio/homes with batik cloth, often dressing up unattractive pieces to become beautiful. People were always stunned by her creative audacity and unconventional use of traditional batik.

After the success of her earlier hand painted, wayang dinnerware and her well known love of batik, Pacita was asked to create another dinnerware set with a batik motif. Once again she was happy to do this and decided to fuse traditional batik designs and rich colors to create a modern, limited edition, hand painted 48 piece batik dinnerware set. In her exhibition catalogue Pacita wrote that:

“Batik, and integral part of Indonesia’s rich cultural heritage, has long been a source of never-ending inspiration in both my art and my personal life. Over the years, my fascination with the elaborate, delicate and beguiling motifs of Indonesia has fueled my imagination and they have inspired me to create a wonderful array of multi-media paintings, fashion items, furniture, and most recently this limited edition of porcelain plates and tea cups. The twelve individual mix and match batik patterns in this collection come from Solo, Yogjakarta and ten other villages along Java’s northern coast.”

Left: Change is in the Air I, 1995 (47 x 30 in) Oil, alkyd, dyed cloth, painted cloth stitched on canvas Right: Change is in the Air II, 1995 (47 x 30 in) Oil, alkyd, dyed cloth, painted cloth, mirrors, buttons stitched on canvas

Left: Change is in the Air III, 1995 (47 x 30 in) Oil, alkyd, dyed cloth, painted cloth stitched on canvas Right: Change is in the Air IV, 1995 (47 x 30 in) Oil, alkyd, dyed cloth, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Recluse (detail), 1995 (87 x 22 in)

Oil, alkyd, painted dyed cloth, painted tin, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Green circles on orange batik (detail), 2000 (59 x 17 in)

Acrylic, oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Art is ecstasy I and II, 1997 (24 x 35 in)

Oil, painted cloth, sequins, beads, buttons stitched on canvas

Art is ecstasy III and IV, 1997 (24 x 35 in)

Oil, painted cloth, sequins, beads, buttons stitched on canvas

Glorious blue, 2003 (36 x 50 in) Oil, painted cloth, painted tin stitched on canvas

A sea of red flowers, 1999 (74 x 59 in) Oil, painted printed cloth stitched on canvas

Yogyakarta, 1999 (57 x 108 in)

Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Trumpo, 1998 (46 x 30 in)

Oil, acrylic, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Top: Cirebon I - Below: Cirebon II, 1995 (35 x 43 in) Oil, painted cloth, mirrors, buttons, painted tie dyed cloth stitched on canvas

Top: Cirebon III - Below: Cirebon IV, 1995 (35 x 43 in) Oil, painted cloth, mirrors, buttons, painted tie dyed cloth stitched on canvas

Celebration and joy, 1998 (177 x 177 in) Oil, painted cloth, tie dyed handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

I feel for you, 1997 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Bandung, 1999 (80 x 53 in)

Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Cloud of uncertainty, 1998 (109 x 123 in) Oil, acrylic, painted cloth stitched on canvas

This crisis is a total meltdown, 1998 (49 x 35 in)

Oil, painted canvas, painted cloth stitched on canvas

A charmed life, 1997 (35 x 24 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

SUMBA

Among the early trips Pacita made in Indonesia was to Sumba, one of the lesser Sunda Islands in eastern Indonesia. The remote island is known for its cultural heritage with exquisite hand-woven, yarn dyed ikat textiles, stone monolith burial traditions, and the distinctive mamuli fertility pendants worn by the women. She said in her artist statement:

"When I went to Sumba earlier this year I was surprised because, although I knew about the weaving, I never imagined high peaked, thatched roofs and beautiful funerary stones, After spending some days visiting villages around Waikabubak and hearing stories of the old people, I was inspired to do my latest work.” – Wayang, Irian and Sumba, Exhibition Catalogue at the National Museum in Jakarta October 24 – November 16, 1994

Pacita was enthralled with what she saw and experienced, but was particularly taken by the beautiful ikat cloth, and she quickly learned about the figurative and geometric designs and different grades of quality. “I was shown some beautiful ikat weavings from Sumba and was attracted by the strong earth colors, the bold designs and the stark figures used in the ikat weavings."

While in the town of Waingapu she met a local couple who informed her that their daughters, Lisa and Saine, had a small ikat shop in Jakarta. Although

Opposite: Room with a view, 1997 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Pacita returned from Sumba with a treasure trove that included ikats, sculptures and mamulis, before long she was knocking on the door of the Sumba Ikat shop in Jakarta. It was here that she discovered bags of ikat cloth scraps that were left over from the sewing of pillow cases and clothing made at the shop. Pacita couldn’t believe her fortune and quickly bought all the bags and even asked for more.

This was the beginning of Pacita’s Sumba Ikat painting series, as she then went to her studio and began sewing the ikat scraps onto her canvases. She then painted the collaged textiles with oil paints, before finally wrapping the frames with more ikat cloth. She found it interesting that when using the thicker ikat cloth in her paintings that her colors became darker and more somber compared to her brighter batik paintings.

Pacita’s studio home

But that is not all that Pacita covered with ikat cloth, as she also used it for her tablecloths, beadspreads, and even had her furniture covered with ikat.

But what really shocked people was when Pacita had the interior of the car completely reupholstered with ikat. She also had the two daughters from Sumba make her coats, dresses and shirts from ikat cloth.

Timor Leste and Timor Ouest, 1996 (35 x 47 in)

Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Beads around her waist, 1997 (35 x 24 in) Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Soon the curtains parted, 1997 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Flurry of movement, 1998 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Flurry of movement (back of painting)

Craving for space, 1997 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Dangerous implications of pink, 1997 (35 x 24 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Don't hang up, 1997 (35 x 24 in) Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Longing was a necessity, 1997 (35 x 24 in) Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Feeling something inside, 1997 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Parallel lives, 1997 (35 x 24 in) Oil, painted handwoven cloth, mirrors stitched on canvas

Rouge, 1997 (35 x 24 in) Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

The sky was all over, 1997 (35 x 24 in) Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Timor Lorosae, 1995 (35 x 49 in)

Oil, painted handwoven cloth, buttons stitched on canvas

Trying to have fun, 1997 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, painted handwoven cloth, mirrors stitched on canvas

Bumbu bumbu (bottom half)

Bumbu bumbu (top half), 1997 (22 x 87 in)

Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

All shook up, 1998 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, painted handwoven cloth, painted tin stitched on canvas

Morbid curiosity, 1998 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, painted tin, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Lattice work in the souk, 1998 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, painted handwoven cloth, painted tin stitched on canvas

Red squares, 1998 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, painted handwoven cloth, painted tin stitched on canvas

Sumba, 1995 (122 x 118 in) Oil, oil pastel, painted handwoven cloth, dyed muslin stitched on canvas

SUMATRA, SULAWESI & BORNEO

Pacita continued her travels to Indonesia’s outlying islands and in particular took numerous trips to different parts of Sumatra, Sulawesi and Kalimantan (part of Borneo). Appreciating the distinctive traditional woven cloth and decorated artifacts of individual ethnic groups including the Iban and Dayaks in Borneo, the mountainous people of Toraja and seafaring Bugis in Sulawesi, and the Bataks and the matrilineal Minangkabau in Sumatra.

From each one of these trips Pacita received a greater appreciation of Indonesia’s incredible cultural richness and inspiration about how to incorporate many of the items that she collected into her paintings. After each trip she was always in a hurry to get back to her studio with her new bags of material and a head filled with new ideas from places like Toraja, Pontianak, Banjarmasin and Bukit Tinggi, and a number of her paintings bear those names.

Opposite: Mega’s revenge (detail), 1998 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, printed and painted cloth stitched on canvas

Bebe’s house, 2004 (14 x 11 in) Acrylic, painted cloth, Rajasthan mirrored cloth stitched on canvas

Peranakan, 2004 (14 x 11 in) Acrylic, painted handwoven cloth, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Blue room, 1999 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, painted cloth, sequins stitched on canvas

Pink room, 1999 (35 x 24 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Red room, 1998 (20 x 16 in) Oil on canvas board

Green room, 1999 (35 x 24 in) Oil, painted canvas stitched on canvas

Bukit Tinggi, 2000 (102 x 126 in) Oil, acrylic, painted, cloth, beads, sequins stitched on canvas

Dayak burning (detail), 1998 (50 x 53 in)

Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Fire in Kalimantan, 1997 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

About to plunge I, 1995 (59 x 39 in)

Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

About to plunge II, 1995 (59 x 39 in)

Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

I stood at midnight by the door, 1998 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, painted tin, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Flores, 1995 (22 x 30 in) Oil, painted cloth, painted tin, stitched on canvas

Top: East Timor, 1995 (22 x 30 in) Oil, dyed corals, buttons, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas Bottom: West Timor, 2000 (22 x 30 in)

Oil, dyed corals, buttons, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Top: Raw sienna, 1995 (22 x 30 in) Oil, dyed corals, buttons, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas Bottom: Umber, 1995 (22 x 30 in)

Oil, dyed corals, buttons, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

MINDANAO

Mindanao is the largest and southernmost island of the Philippines. With a large Islamic population, it shares a significant cultural heritage with the adjacent Indonesian islands. Pacita first visited Mindanao in 1974 when she and her husband visite the provinces of Cagayan de Oro, Marawi, South Cotobato, Davao, and Zamboanga. There Pacita encountered the rich cultural heritage of the diverse ethnic groups in the region. Along the journey the beauty and diversity of tribal cloth, jewelry and other tribal artifacts gave her a heightened appreciation for their local craftsmanship.

In particular, in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato she met with the T’boli tribes and learned about the t’nalak, a traditional abaca tapestry made by T’boli weavers. In the Spanish and Malay-influenced Zamboanga City she encountered indigenous tribes including the seafaring Badjao, the Tausug, and the Yakan, all known for their variety of colorful hand-woven textiles and banig, or woven reed floor mat. Pacita loved their multi-colored textiles and the malong, or tube skirt worn by the Muslim women in Zamboanga, which she added to her wardrobe.

Later on from 1983-85, when she was living in Manila, Pacita would continue her trips to to Mindanao and during her travels collected a number of Philippine tribal textiles and sculptures. Unknowingly at the time, these trips would serve as inspiration for her later paintings using textiles, local materials and acrylic and oil paint.

100 Years of Freedom, 1998 (150 x 150 in) Oil, acrylic, Philipppine cloth (abaca, pineapple, jusi and banana fibers; Baguio ikat; Batanes cotton crochet; Ilocano cotton; Chinese silk and bead; Spanish silk, Ilongo cloth; Mindanao beads; Zamboanga and Yakan handwoven cloth and sequins) stitched on dyed cotton

Pacita first used her textile pieces from Mindanao in an early trapunto painting entitled Filipina: A Racial Identity Crisis (1991), which portrayed two Filipina figures, one dark skinned from Mindanao wearing colorful tribal cloth, and the other a fair skinned mestiza, wearing Spanish colonial dress.

In 1998 while living in Jakarta, Pacita was invited to join an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila to celebrate the Philippine Centennial.

Pacita was in the midst of creating her textile collages and decided to create an installation which she called 100 Years of Freedom -- From Batanes (the Philippine's northernmost island where she was born) to Jolo (the southernmost island closest to Malaysia and Indonesia)”.

Pacita decided to create an assemblage, which was stitched and painted on a 12.5 feet high and 12.5 feet wide Muslim wedding tent, which she brought from Zamboanga. On this base she collaged and stitched pieces of textiles from all parts of the Philippines that she had been collecting for more than 20 years: handwoven cloth from Baguio and Bontoc; ikat from villages in Kalinga Apayao; t'nalak from Lake Seibu, tubao scarves and malongs from Mindanao; my grandmother's lace mantilla from Cebu; crocheted curtains made by her mother in Batanes; panuelos of her father; and many other pieces of Philippine fabric. In addition to her painting, Pacita stitched her assemblage with lace, beads, sequins and other adornments commonly used by women throughout the Philippines.

In the 1998 Alab ng Puso exhibition catalogue, curator Patrick Flores wrote, “In the tradition of her trapunto technique, Pacita sews an indigenous cultural flag from fabrics made by different people from different places, and stitched together with lace, sequins and other adornments. Pacita has collected bits and pieces of textiles from all over the Philippines and this work, a product of a lifetime of search and keeping, attests to the history not only of her artistry, but also to the lively traditions of her sisters, weavers of the nation’s tapestry and cultural cloth.”

YEMEN

Starting in 1973 and over the next 25 years Pacita traveled extensively throughout the Middle East to Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen.

She was fascinated by the land, the people and the richness of Islamic culture. Pacita reveled in her encounters with the cities of the Islamic world: the breathtaking, multicolored tiled mosaics and stained glass windows in mosques and palaces; narrow alleys leading to hidden decorated doors, bustling bazaars with merchant selling colorful handwoven kilims and rugs, intricate brass and copper wares, and local fruits and nuts. Pacita was so taken with Islamic design and colors that she adopted much of the lifestyle into her dĂŠcor, as she covered her floors with colorful kilims, carpets and pillows, utilized intricate brass and copper accessories and even installed hanging lampshades inspired by lighting she had seen in many Middle Eastern palaces.

Her early paintings of the region were initially sketches and collages of sights that she had seen such as mosques in Cairo and people in Khartoum.

However, in 1998 she spent a month in Yemen and produced two major bodies of work based on her visit, one on the beautiful stained glass windows called qamariyas, and the second on the colorfully designed doors and larger portals she saw in cities throughout the country.

Opposite: White heightens the awareness of the senses (detail), 1998 (84 x 63 in)

Oil, acrylic, oil pastel, dyed cotton, painted canvas, painted cloth stitched on canvas

As she said in her artist statement:

“The trip to Yemen was a dream. Yemen is in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula with terraced green valleys amidst bare cliffs, rocky plateaus and desert sands. It is a country of natural born architects, as can be seen from their stone houses with stained glass qamariya windows in the north, and their stunning 5 to 8-story buildings made of clay and straw in the southern desert. When I arrived in the old town of Sanaa, I was immediately awed by the structure and decoration of the houses, with their whitewashed designs, stained glass windows and their exquisite doors.” – Foreword in Door to Life

Pacita’s most popular work from her stay in the Yemen were her Door to Life paintings and she explained in her book that:

“I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the doors of houses, buildings and places of worship. I spent fascinating hours walking around alleys and streets of cities and villages, just looking at the houses and their doors. I was more partial to the steel doors than to the wooden doors, as they were painted in strong, loud, pure colors softened by the sun and the sand. I was also attracted to their design, as in many instances, the doors were covered with colorful symbols such as hearts, flowers and Islamic verses. I made many sketches with pastel crayons, most of them abstract images inspired by the doodles, graffiti and images on the doors. …The days in Yemen were a nonstop creative challenge, every day a new idea, every day a new door. I discovered new doors in different towns throughout the country, and through my fascination with the doors, I discovered more about the Yemenis and their daily life.”

The paintings in her Yemen Doors series were a mix of both oil and acrylic on canvas and textile collages. Since she completed her Yemen series after she returned to Jakarta some of the painted collages incorporate Indonesian textiles. Pacita felt that this was appropriate as a large number of Yemenis, especially from the southern Hadhrarmawt region had migrated to Indonesia over the past century. In fact, Shibam, one of the cities she visited in the area was nicknmed “Little Indonesia”, with many of the houses incorporating Indonesian designs.

Al-Mahwit door, 1998 (12 x 12 in) Oil, painted canvas stitched on canvas

Opposite: Eternal door, 1999 (65 x 39 in) Oil, painted bark cloth, painted tin, painted cloth collaged on canvas

It was early morning daybreak, 1998 (12 x 12 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Opposite: Hodaidah, 1999 (63 x 39 in) Oil, painted cotton and plastic buttons stitched on canvas

We have moved, 1998 (12 x 12 in) Oil, painted canvas stitched on canvas

Opposite: I am by the door in a second, 1999 (64 x 39 in) Oil, painted cotton stitched on canvas

Parting doors, 1998 (12 x 12 in) Oil, painted canvas stitched on canvas

Opposite: Metal door in Thula, 1998 (83 x 63 in) Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Because you are mine, 2004 (12 x 12 in) Oil, acrylic, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Opposite: Stained glass door in Sanaa, 1998 (87 x 63 in) Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Looking through a lightly fogged window, 2004 (12 x 12 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Opposite: Let everything arround you reflect it, 1998 (83 x 61 in) Oil, dyed linen, painted cloth stitched canvas

Ikat inspired door, 1998 (12 x 12 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Opposite: This door and everything in it, 1999 (65 x 42 in) Oil, painted linen stitched on canvas

Chaotic passage, 1998 (12 x 12 in) Oil, painted canvas stitched on canvas

Opposite: If you have to go, go now, 1999 (65 x 39 in) Oil, painted bark cloth stitched on canvas

Door with a view, 1998 (12 x 12 in) Oil, painted handwoven cloth stitched on canvas

Opposite: Yemen was a dream, 2003 (87 x 63 in) Acrylic, oil pastel, painted canvas stitched on canvas

Spiral doorway, 1998 (12 x 12 in) Oil, painted leather stitched on canvas

Opposite: Knockin’ on heaven's door, 1999 (64 x 39 in) Oil, painted cotton stitched on canvas

RAJASTHAN

Pacita first visited India when she spent four months there and its surrounding countries in 1973. She was overwhelmed with South Asia's new colors, spices, temples and textiles that she encountered every few hundred miles. Over the course of her artistic career she would return to these countries over 20 times, and lived in Bangladesh for a year in 1977-78.

She explained her feelings:

“I was totally overwhelmed when I went to India, particularly Rajasthan, ‌ where every woman I saw was a walking piece of art, covered with colorful fabrics, beads, mirrors, buttons, tin jewelry, dyed yarn and multi-colored hair ornaments. More than twenty-five years later, I still wear much of the clothing and jewelry that I bought on that trip. India also had a major impact on my artistic development, as years later many of the Indian elements including embroidery, mirrors, buttons, beads and tie-dyeing were incorporated into my paintings.â€?

While Pacita did a number of early paintings of people, temples and mosques, her real inspiration was from the vibrant textiles and jewelry worn by the women. She was particularly enamored with the use of mirrors, buttons, beads and thread in everyday clothing. This triggered her to use many of these objects in her paintings. As such, she was always asking

Opposite: Deleted lines (detail), 2002 (24 x 24 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

friends traveling to India to bring her back boxes of mirrors which were impossible to find outside of India.

In 2000 on a return visit to India Pacita decided to create a painted homage to Rajasthan, which she called Sky is the Limit. As she stated in her Artist Statement from her book:

“I began to think of circles, magentas, reds, bright yellows, blue skies, gold and silver ornaments, stained glass, enameled bangles, expressive black eyes, coconut-oiled long black hair, colorful turbans, multi-colored saris and the exotic spices and scents…. I had a lot of fun working on these paintings, most are a combination of oil, glass and stitching to portray my impressions of Rajasthan. … I especially wanted to use the mirrors, which I had been applying in my earlier works, to show that these are objects of design unique to India.”

Pacita’s series inspired by Rajasthan consist of both colorful abstract assemblages featuring mirrors and sequins, and textile collages that incorporate colorful pieces of local fabric that she collected. Embroidered fabrics, fragments of painted miniatures and patterns from women’s saris are collaged and hand stitched on the canvases of her colorful textile collages.

Pacita’s Rajasthan room in her studio house. Photo credit: Lester Ledesma

Down so long, 2000 (6 x 6 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Fears and tears, 2000 (6 x 6 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

The night was cold, 2000 (6 x 6 in) Oil, painted canvas stitched on canvas

Silhouette moving, 2000 (12 x 12 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

White lie, 2000 (6 x 6 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Sunburst, 2004 (6 x 6 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Stepping out, 2000 (6 x 6 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Those long days, 2000 (6 x 6 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Cloudy morning, 2000 (6 x 6 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Lingering, 2001 (6 x 6 in) Oil, painted cloth, sequins stitched on canvas

Inside her dress, 2000 (39 x 39 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Come on and move it, 2000 (6 x 6 in) Oil, painted canvas stitched on canvas

Pink Rajasthan, 2004 (6 x 6 in) Oil, painted ribari cloth, yarn stitched on canvas

Ribari Gypsy, 2004 (6 x 6 in) Oil, acrylic, painted Rajashtan cloth, yarn stitched on canvas

Stir fry, 2001 (6 x 6 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Reaching out, 2000 (6 x 6 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Time turns me, 2000 (12 x 12 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Blue moon, 2003 (12 x 12 in) Oil, acrylic, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Out of control, 2000 (35 x 24 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Kite festival, 2000 (35 x 24 in) Oil, plainted cloth stitched on canvas

SINGAPORE

Pacita physically moved from Jakarta to Singapore, but her artistic spirit and her paintings continued to be influenced by Indonesian textiles.

She stated: “I thought I would drift away from using cloth when I left Indonesia in the year 2000 for Singapore. I started using oil paints again on stretched canvas. Oil helped me in defining my work as it gave me the juiciness that I could not achieve in other paint mediums. Initially, I was satisfied with just the paint but I could not help adding beads, fabric, glass on to the canvas.“

A more significant impact on Pacita and her work was that at the end of 2001 she was diagnosed to have lung cancer, and had to undergo major surgical, radiotherapy chemotherapy treatments intermittently over the next three years. As Pacita said in her Artist Statement in Endless Blues:

“Chop, burn and poison for eight non-stop months. The emotional and physical sense of uncertainty, as well as the doctor’s travel ban, made me take refuge in my studio. The result of course is that painting and listening to the blues was the best therapy. The blues has been one of my favorite themes as I have a particular affinity for the music and a strong sense of nostalgia in the lyrics. Some artists sing the blues, others write about it and I love to paint what is going on. It takes me days, weeks and sometimes months to dwell on a particular subject, but I go through the experience.

Opposite: Endless blues (detail), 2001 (98 x 75 in)

Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

There are many circumstances and incidents during the last years that call for this theme. How else can a painter explain the actions that took place in all these incidents but through her work. I am reminded of New York City and the many innocent victims of terrorism around the world. I just cannot stop thinking about September 11th. On a personal note, I have witnessed several friends who went through pain and suffering and sometimes death. This includes myself when I learned I had an illness which demanded medical attention for almost a year. During all these times, I have been listening to the blues while I continue painting with much gusto. I would play several of my favorite singers and there were good reasons to forget about what I was going through. So many events, so many secrets and to my mind, the best way to uncover this is through my brush.

Sewing these fabrics to my paintings was like a ritual as it was meditative and slowed me down. I think about how the work will develop and it will be hung in my studio for several months before I would work on it again. One thing about using oils in this climate is that it takes a long time to dry. Somehow the luminosity of oil paints and the vividness of the batiks go hand in hand and gives me the color and texture satisfaction I always wanted in my work.

My friends also contributed to the materials I use. Susie Monday from San Antonio, Texas gave me several of her dyed velvet and cotton fabrics, Nia and Ismoyo from Yogyakarta together with Ardiyanto and Rudi Correns collected some batiks for my paintings. Friends from Rajasthan, India looked for the embroidered fabric to add to my paintings.

Although many of the works are unrelated, there is a continuing harmony in these paintings and that is the reference to the use of glitter, oil, fabric and other materials to provide the overall effect of originality, spontaneity and vitality in expressing my feelings towards a certain awareness.

Endless Blues are paintings I have conceived and worked on during the last two years‌. Although this series is inspired by the blues, the canvases are not somber or moody‌... Like the blues, my paintings are always strong, sometimes sad, a bit nostalgic and very colorful."

Orange punch, 2003 (96 x 71 in) Acrylic, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Yield to the adventure, 2002 (94 x 71 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

These are better days, 2002 (96 x 71 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Stella by starlight, 2002 (91 x 71 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Roomful of blues, 2002 (94 x 71 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Moving with hungry heart, 2003 (94 x 71 in)

Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Marnay sur le seine, 2003 (96 x 71 in) Acrylic, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Maintaining the rage, 2002 (94 x 71 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

It’s all over now baby blue, 2002 (90 x 71 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

I woke up many times that night, 2003 (94 x 71 in)

Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Early one morning, 2003 (94 x 71 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Don’t let the sun catch you crying, 2003 (94 x 71 in)

Oil, painted cloth, rhinestones stitched on canvas

Dancing in the dark, 2002 (93 x 72 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Burning desire, 2002 (91 x 71 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Blues train to Yogya, 2002 (94 x 71 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Basel art 32 fair, 2001 (106 x 65 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

One night stand, 2002 (94 x 71 in) Oil, painted batik cloth hand-stitched on to canvas

PLACES IN BETWEEN – Washington, Jakarta, Darwin/Alice Springs, Scandinavia, Tokyo

Although Pacita created most of her textile collages during the time she lived in Jakarta and Singapore, she actually started with this technique while working in her studio in Washington. It began when she decided to cut up one of her earlier paintings that she was not happy with and to sew the canvas pieces onto a fresh canvas and then repaint it. She liked the effect and laughingly said that she was like a cannibal eating her own paintings.

She continued with this canvas collage practice when she first arrived in Jakarta and used it on the paintings in her colorful Abstract Emotions exhibition. This changed once she started working with Indonesian textiles.

When people asked her why she changed her painting style she replied:

"I enjoyed trapunto at the time. Now I want to concentrate more on painting. I think all artists go through through different periods with their media. If you don't force yourself, it flows more easily and is more spontaneous. I find it less of a struggle. You aren't contradicting yourself because you are doing exactly what you want to do."

Opposite: Paint for the moment, 2002 (37 x 30 in)

Oil, printed and painted cloth, mirrors, beads stitched on canvas

Pacita’s stylistic changes in her paintings also continued to be influenced by her travels, especially to places like the Australian Outback, Scandinavia and Japan.

While Pacita was living in Indonesia in 1997 she was selected, along with 7 Indonesian textile artists and 65 artists from Australia’s states and territories, to participate in a textile and fiber art exhibition at the Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territories in the distant northwestern city of Darwin. Pacita had met a few Aboriginal artists the year before in Yogyakarta, as part of a cross-cultural exchange with Indonesian batik artists.

However, though she had always been attracted to Aboriginal artists use of dots to create distinctive colorful patterns, she never appreciated the spirituality behind the paintings. During this three-week stay Pacita met numerous Aboriginal artists as she visited Arnhem Land and Bathurst Island and saw their carved and painted grave marker poles, wooden sculptures, painted bark baskets, armbands and many more decorated items.

Inspired by her initial visit to the Outback in the following years Pacita made a number of other trips to Australia, and in particular she wanted to visit the remote Central Desert areas around Alice Springs, including Uluru and Utopia. She made this trip in 2001 and was inspired seeing the sacred Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) cropping up out of nowhere. Pacita had a wonderful time talking to the artists and looking at their distinctive batiks, carved and painted sculptures and every day objects. She was pleased to buy brightly painted clap sticks used in dance ceremonies, which she proudly displayed at home. She was also intrigued by a beautifully painted women’s carrying bowl, which reminded her of two paintings that she had done in 1988. On her return to her studio in Jakarta after her trip to Darwin Pacita went right to her studio and started working on a new series of paintings that she called Darwin Inspired.

Opposite: Pacita’s hand painted 15-inches diameter glass plates

A few years later while living in Singapore, in between her medical treatments every time Pacita had the chance she would escape to distant shores including Japan, the Philippines, China, France and particularly Scandinavia. During the last three years of her life she had two exhibitions in Finland, one in Norway and completed a glass painting artist residency in Sweden. As a consequence of her travels she not only created 64 colorful, handpainted glass plates, but also number of smaller textile collage paintings inspired by her Scandinavian experiences, which she called White Nights: Scandinavian Summers.

After one of her trips to Scandinavia she said:

"The glass kingdom is a magical place in Scandinavia, where I spent a wonderful time last summer. After exhibiting in Finland and traveling in Norway, I worked at the Lindshammar Glass Factory in Sweden. I painted glass plates with colors and shapes drawn from my paintings, like Blue composition and Colored glass plates. But glass painting is another story, however, the color and character of glass really opened up a new world for me. As I thought of glass and the delicious blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and wild mushrooms, I painted canvases like For Love's Sake and Summer in Helsinki.

One of her last trips before she passed away was to Tokyo and there she bought a number of beautiful old kimono pieces full of rich designs and wonderful fabric. Pacita bundled them up to bring back to her Singapore studio, where she used the rich fabric pieces to cover 11-inch circular cardboard, which she then painted. With her failing strength while sitting on the floor she then collaged and painted her last series of textile collages.

The core of the matter, 1990 (31 x 27 in) Oil, painted canvas stitched on canvas

Obsession, 1990 (35 x 35 in) Oil, acrylic, painted canvas stitched on canvas

Goodbye George, 1993 (100 x 35 in) Acrylic, oil, painted canvas stitched on padded canvas

Troubled by desire, 1997 (39 x 39 in) Oil, painted canvas stitched on canvas

The violence of loneliness, 1997 (35 x 24 in) Oil, painted canvas stitched on canvas

Purely for my pleasure, 1996 (39 x 39 in) Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Living in local, thinking in global, 2004 (12 x 12 in) Oil, acrylic, strips of cloth, painted canvas stitched on canvas

Yellow path, 1988 (39 x 26 in) Oil, mirrors, yarn, painted canvas stitched on canvas

White path, 1988 (41 x 26 in) Oil, buttons, mirrors, yarn, painted canvas stitched on canvas

Desert highway, 1990 (41 x 21 in)

Acrylic, oil, painted canvas stitched on padded canvas

I've always been fascinated by green, 2001 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Tangled up in blues, 2002 (35 x 24 in) Oil, painted canvas, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Living on love, 2002 (35 x 30 in) Oil, painted cloth, painted tin, stitched on canvas

Strange fruit, 2002 (35 x 24 in)

Oil, painted cloth, painted tin stitched on canvas

I remember the blues in Helsinki, 2001 (37 x 30 in) Oil, mirrors, painted cloth stitched on canvas

Circle collage 12, 2003 (11 in diameter) Acrylic, painted cloth collaged on paper

Circle collage 08, 2003 (11 in diameter) Acrylic, painted cloth collaged on paper

Circle collages, 2003 (11 in diameter) Acrylic, painted cloth collaged on paper

ARTIST PROFILE

The internationally known Philippine-American painter Pacita Abad (19462004) was born on Batanes, a small island in the South China Sea. Her 32-year painting career began when she had to leave the Philippines in 1969 due to her student political activism against the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, and traveled to the United States to study law. However, a few years after receiving a Master of Arts degree in Asian History from the University of San Francisco she switched careers to dedicate her life to art.

She then studied painting at the Corcoran School of Art, Washington, D.C. and The Art Students League in New York City. Since that time Pacita never stopped being a gypsy artist and painted the globe while working on six different continents and traveling to more than 50 countries. During her career Pacita created over 5,000 artworks and her paintings were exhibited in more than 200 museums and galleries around the world.

Pacita’s travels significantly impacted her life and artistic style and were the inspiration for many of the ideas, techniques and materials that she incorporated in her paintings. Her journeys were also a tremendous crosscultural learning experience that made her acutely aware of the difficult lives that most women lead around the globe. They also heightened her sensitivity to the severe political, social, economic and environmental challenges she encountered across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Not surprisingly, as a socially concerned artist Pacita’s early socio-political paintings were of urban poor, displaced people, political violence, refugees

and immigrants in countries where she worked such as Bangladesh, Sudan, Dominican Republic, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and the U.S.

After her early social realism paintings, Pacita rejected the painterly emphasis on surface flatness, and sought ways to expand her painted canvases and make her work more sculptural. With the help of her sewing skills Pacita developed a unique, innovative painting style which she called trapunto painting, that fused her painted surfaces collaged with hand-stitched traditional materials, buttons, sequins, shells, mirrors and other found objects to blend with her signature strong colors. Her first series using this technique she called “Masks and Spirits” drawing on her travel experiences.

Pacita created over 50 large, vibrantly colored, hand stitched and embellished trapunto paintings depicting masks and spirits from New Guinea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Africa and the Americas.

Her next artistic plunge was literally underwater, as Pacita created very large and colorful trapunto painting series based on her deep-sea scuba diving experiences throughout the Philippines. Inspired by nature’s beauty she simultaneously worked on a extensive series of flora and fauna paintings from the Australian Outback and Asia’s tropical gardens.

Throughout her career her work was characterized by color, constant change and experimentation. Her most comprehensive and extensive body of work, which she focused on during the second half of her career are vibrantly colorful abstract, mixed media painted textile collages and assemblages inspired by her stays in Indonesia, Singapore, India and Yemen. Many are very large canvases, but also a number of small collages on a range of surfaces, as she continuously explored new mediums, techniques and materials including prints, paper, bark cloth, glass ceramic, steel and other mediums.

Pacita also created a number of noteworthy public art installations such as her six-piece, Masks from Six Continents, in the main Washington, D.C. Metro Station; batik canvas collage titled Celebration and Joy installed at the Singapore Expo; large hand-stitched Zamboanga wedding tent adorned with native textiles called 100 Years Of Freedom: from Batanes to Jolo to celebrate

the Philippine Centennial; and just before she died the 55-meter long Singapore Art Bridge which she covered with over 2,000 colorful circles while undergoing treatment for cancer.

Pacita's paintings were featured in solo exhibitions at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; Hong Kong Arts Center, Hong Kong; Museum of Philippine Art and the Metropolitan Museum in Manila; Bhirasri Institute of Modern Art, Bangkok, Thailand; Altos de Chavon, Dominican Republic; Art Museum of Western Virginia, Roanoke; National Center of AfroAmerican Artists, Boston; National Museum and the National Gallery of Art, Jakarta, Indonesia and the Hadeland Museum in Norway, among others.

Pacita's work also appeared in numerous group exhibitions including: Beyond the Border: Art by Recent Immigrants, Bronx Museum; Asia/America: Identities in Contemporary Asian American Art, Asia Society, New York; Olympiad of Art (in conjunction with the 24th Olympics), National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul, Korea; 2nd Asian Art Show, Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan; La Bienal de la Habana, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Habana, Cuba; Art for Africa, traveling exhibition to Oslo, Cologne, Algiers, London and Rome; UNESCO: 40 Years, 40 Countries, 40 Artists, traveling exhibition to 15 museums around the world; Filipino Artists Abroad, Metropolitan Museum of Manila; and At Home and Abroad: 21 Contemporary Filipino Artists, traveling exhibition to the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston among others.

Pacita’s paintings are now held in museum, public, corporate and private art collections in over 70 countries, and are regularly included in auctions by international auction houses. Among the museums that have collected Pacita’s paintings are: the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan, Singapore Art Museum in Singapore, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, National Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea, National Museum of the Philippines, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Museum Nasional of Indonesia, Museo de Bellas Artes in Havana, Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington, Bronx Museum in New York and Zimmerli Art Museum in New Jersey.

Biodata

Born:

Batanes, Philippines, October 5, 1946

Died:

Singapore, December 7, 2004

Studied at: Art Students League of New York, NY, 1977

Corcoran School of Art, Washington, D.C. 1975

University of San Francisco, M.A. 1972

University of the Philippines, B.A. 1968

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS Pacita held over 40 solo exhibitions at museums and galleries in Asia, the U.S., Europe, Africa and Latin America

2006 “Pacita: Through the Looking Glass”, Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay, Singapore

2005 “A Passion to Paint”, The World Bank Galleries, Washington, DC

“A Special Tribute to Pacita Abad - A Philippine-American Artist”, School of Economics, Singapore Management University, Singapore

2004 “Circles in My Mind”, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila, curated by Prof. Rubén Defeo of the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts (catalogue)

“Genomic Medicine and Population Health”, Artist-in-Residence with GENOME Institute of Singapore

2004 “Pacita’s Painted Bridge”, Robertson Quay, Singapore (catalogue)

“Circles in My Mind”, AndrewShire Gallery, Los Angeles, California (catalogue)

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

“Batik Dinnerware Collection”, Senayan Cafe, Jakarta “Circles in My Mind”, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore (catalogue) “Endless Blues”, Hadeland Museum, Hadeland, Norway (catalogue) “Endless Blues”, Galleri Stockgard, Siuntio, Finland (catalogue) “Endless Blues”, Artfolio Gallery, Singapore (catalogue) "The Sky is the Limit”, Pulitzer Art Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands (catalogue) "The Sky is the Limit”, Gallery Stockgard, Siuntio, Finland (catalogue) "The Sky is the Limit”, Artfolio Gallery, Singapore (catalogue) "The Sky is the Limit”, Finale Art Gallery and SM Art Center Manila, Philippines (catalogue) “Palay” Montclair State University Art Galleries, New Jersey (catalogue) “Wayang Dinnerware Collection”, Koi Gallery, Jakarta (catalogue) “Door To Life”, Artfolio Gallery, Singapore (catalogue) “Door To Life”, Luz Gallery, Manila (catalogue) “Door To Life”, Bomani Gallery, San Francisco (catalogue) “Door To Life”, Gibson Creative, Washington, DC (catalogue) “Abstract Emotions”, National Museum, Jakarta (catalogue)

1998

1996

1995

1994

1994

1993

1992

1991

1989

1988

1986

“Abstract Emotions”, Hiraya Gallery, Manila (small works) “Exploring the Spirit”, National Gallery of Indonesia (catalogue) “Thinking Big”, curated by Cora Alvina, Metropolitan Museum of Manila “Postcards from the Edge”, Galleria Duemila, Manila “Twenty-four Flowers”, Liongoren Art Gallery, Makati, Philippines “Wayang, Irian and Sumba”, National Museum, Jakarta (catalogue) “The American Dream”, curated by Angela Adams National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC (brochure) “Assaulting the Deep Sea”, curated by Mark Scala Art Museum of Western Virginia (brochure) “Assaulting the Deep Sea”, curated by Deborah McLeod Peninsula Fine Arts, Norfolk, Virginia (brochure) “Flower Paintings”, Philippine Center, New York, NY ”Abstract Emotions”, Philippine Center, New York, NY “Wild At Art”, Ayala Museum, Makati, Philippines “Trapunto Paintings”, Franz Bader Gallery, Washington, DC “Asian Abstractions”, Fables Gallery, Cambridge, Massachusetts “Oriental Abstractions”, curated by Michael Chen Hong Kong Arts Center, Hong Kong (catalogue)

1986

1985

1984

1982

1981

1980

1979

1978

1977

"Assaulting the Deep Sea", Underwater installation at Ayala Museum, Manila, Philippines “Batanes – Landscape and People”, curated by Ray Albano Cultural Center of the Philippines “A Painter Looks at the World”, curated by Arturo Luz Museum of Philippine Art (catalogue) “Scenes From the Upper Nile”, curated by Harriet Kennedy Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Boston, Massachusetts “Portraits of Cambodia”, curated by Amy Lighthill Boston University Art Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts (catalogue) “Streets of Santo Domingo”, curated by Isabel Caceres de De Castro Altos De Chavon, La Romana, Dominican Republic (catalogue) “Portraits of Cambodia”, curated by Daeng Chatvichai Promadhathavedi Bhirasri, Institute of Modern Art, Bangkok, Thailand “Recent Paintings of the Sudan”, curated by Abdullah Shibrain Exhibition Hall, Khartoum, Sudan “Paintings of Bangladesh”, Dhaka, Bangladesh “Recent Paintings”, 15th Street Studio, Washington, DC

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS Pacita participated in more than 50 group and traveling exhibitions throughout the world.

2012 “BEAT” Exhibit, Lopez Memorial Museum Library, Pasig City, Philippines

2008 “The Sum of its Parts”, Lopez Memorial Museum Library, Pasig City, Philippines

2007 “The Big Picture Show“, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore

2006 “The Shape That Is“, Jendela Gallery, The Esplanade, Singapore

2004 "Crossings: Philippine Works from the Singapore Art Museum ", Ayala Museum, Manila, Philippines

2004 “Global Entrepolis” by Singapore's Economic Development Board at Suntec City Singapore, Singapore

“SingArt - A Brush With Lions”, Raffles Hotel, Singapore

“TOYM Art Exhibit", Manila, Philippines (catalogue)

2003 “The Third Asia Women Art Exhibition”, Seoul, Korea

“Seoul International Women’s Art Fair”, Seoul, Korea

"Brown Strokes on a White Canvas, 2003" Eight Filipino-American Artists at George Mason University, Arlington, Virginia and Harmony Hall, Fort Washington, Maryland

“Philippine Exhibit”, Martin Luther King Library, Washington, DC

2002

2001

2001

2000

1999

"Sino-Filipino Contemporary Art", Asia World Hotel, Taipei, Taiwan (catalogue) “Spirited Faces: Painting in the Woman”, Gallerie Belvedere, Singapore “Singapore Art Fair 2002, “Suntec City, Singapore “Sky is the Limit installation”, curated by Valentine Willy The Esplanade, Singapore (catalogue) “Brown Strokes on a White Canvas”, World Bank Gallery and Foundry Gallery, Washington, DC “The Studio Portrait, A collaborative project by Carol Sun”, Bronx Museum, New York, NY “Mask: The Other Face of Humanity”, Sonobudoyo Museum Yogyakarta, Indonesia “Conversations with the Permanent Collection”, Bronx Museum, New York, NY "ARTSingapore 2000”, First Contemporary Southeast Asian Festival, MITA, Singapore “Luna: comic drama and art to wear”, directed by Gilda Cordero Fernando, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila ”Handmade: Shifting Paradigms”, curated by Tay Swee Lin, Singapore Art Museum (catalogue) "Women Beyond Borders”, a traveling exhibit organized by Lorraine Serena, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Southern California, Akino Fuku Museum, Japan, Tin Sheds Gallery University of Sydney,

Australia; Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Sydney; Gallery Saigon, Vietnam; Gallery One, Tokyo, Japan

1999

1998

1997

"Global Woman Project 1999-2000”, curated by Claudia De Monte, traveling exhibit in the United States "Histories (Re)membered: Selections from the Permanent Collection”, Paine Webber Art Gallery, New York, NY "V'spartio (Very Special Arts)", Artfolio, Singapore and Osaka, Japan "At Home and Abroad: 21 Contemporary Filipino Artists”, traveling exhibition to Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Metropolitan Museum of Manila (Catalogue) “Woman”, Institute of Contemporary Art (PS.1), New York, NY “Bayan”, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Philippines “The Gallery Artists, Part 2”, Brix Gallery, Manila, Philippines “New Asian Art”, Hong Kong Visual Arts Center, Hong Kong “World Batik Exhibition”, Ardiyanto Gallery, Yogyakarta, Indonesia “Filipino Artists Abroad”, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Philippines “National Craft Acquisition Award”, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Australia “Talk Back! The Community Responds to the Permanent Collection”, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, New York, NY

1997

1996

1996

1995

“8th International Biennal Print and Drawing Exhibit”, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan (catalogue) “Book Art IV”, Luz Gallery, Makati, Philippines ”7th International Biennal Print and Drawing Exhibit”, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan (catalogue) ”National Craft Acquisition Award”, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Australia “Memories of Overdevelopment: Philippine Diaspora in Contemporary Visual Art”, curated by Yong Soon Min and Alan de Souza, traveling exhibit to University of California Art Galleries, North Dakota Art Museum; Plug-In Gallery, Canada “Looking at Ourselves: The American Portrait”, curated by Laura Vookles, Hudson River Museum of Westchester in New York (brochure) “Eight Paths to a Journey: Cultural Identity and the Immigration Experience”, curated by Mel Watkin, Ellipse Gallery, Arlington, Virginia “Defining Ourselves”, curated by Anna Fariello, Radford University Galleries, Radford, Virginia “Contemporary Art of the Non-Aligned Countries”, curated by G. Sheikh T.K. Sabapathy, A. Poshyananda and Jim Supangkat, National Gallery of Indonesia (catalogue) “AKO, Filipino Self Portraits”, curated by Cora Alvina, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Philippines

1995

1993

1993

1992

“disOriented: Shifting Identities of Asian Women in America”, curated

by Margo Machida Steinbaum Krauss Gallery and Henry Street Settlement Abrams Art Center, New York, NY “Beyond the Border: Art by Recent Immigrants”, curated by Betti Sue Hertz, Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York, NY (catalogue) “Asia/America: Identities in Contemporary Asian American Art”, curated by Margo Machida and organized by the Asia Society Galleries, NY - traveling to the Tacoma Art Museum, Washington; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Honolulu Academy of Fine Arts, Hawaii; Center for the Arts at Yerba Buena, San Francisco MIT List Visual Arts Center, Massachusetts and Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston, Texas (catalogue) “TOUCH, Beyond the Visual”, curated by Angela Adams and Paula Owen - a traveling exhibitions organized by the Hand Workshop, Richmond, Virginia to include Sawtooth Center for the Visual Arts, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, Danville, Virginia; Piedmont Arts Association, Martinsville, Virginia (catalogue) “Women’s Spirit with Pacita Abad, Hung Liu, Amalia Mesa-Bains, Howardena Pindell, Joyce Scott”, Bomani Gallery, San Francisco, California “Washington Project for the Arts at the Hemicycle”, curated by Marilyn Zeitlin Alan Prokop, Judy Jashinsky and Sammy Hoi, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC “Crossing Over/Changing Places”, curated by Jane Farmer, sponsored

by USIA, a traveling exhibit in the United States and Europe including Zagreb Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb; Helsinki City Art Kunstmuseum, Denmark; National Gallery of Art, Athens; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (catalogue)

1991

1991

1990

1988

1986

1984

”Fiber: The State of the Art”, curated by Rebecca Stevens, Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute and College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland “Nine Paths to a Journey: The Immigrant Experience”, curated by Mel Watkin Ellipse Gallery, Arlington, Virginia (brochure) “Day of the Dead”, curated by Geno Rodriguez, Alternative Museum, New York, NY (brochure) “Art for Africa”, curated by Andre Parinaud, traveling exhibition to museums in Paris, Oslo, Cologne, Algiers, London and Rome ”Olympiad of Art”, curated by Ante Glibota, Pierre Restany, Thomas Messer and Uske Nakahara, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea (catalogue) “La Bienal de la Habana”, Museo Nacional de Belles Artes, Habana, Cuba (catalogue) “UNESCO: 40 Years, 40 Countries, 40 Artists”, curated by Andre Parinaud traveling exhibit in museums of 40 member countries (catalogue) “First International Print Bienale”, curated by Huang Tsai-lang, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan (catalogue) “Asian Art Biennale”, curated by Syed Jahangir, National Museum, Dhaka, Bangladesh (catalogue) “Second Asian Art Show” curated by Nonon Padilla, Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan (catalogue) “Three Faces in Philippine Art”, curated by Rod Paras Perez, BMW Gallery, Munich, Germany (catalogue)

1984

“Sino-Filipino Modern Art”, Asia World Hotel, Taipei, Taiwan “Association of South East Asian Countries”, curated by Rod Paras Perez, a traveling exhibition to museums in South East Asian countries

COSTUME DESIGNS Pacita was involved as a costume designer for a number of collaborative Asian theater groups

• “Luna: Comic Drama and Art to Wear”, theater extravaganza for the New Millennium with an all star cast of Filipino artists, models and performers produced by Gilda Cordero Fernando and directed by Manny Chaves, Cultural Center of the Philippines, 2000

• “Long After Love”, Pacific Bridge Theater, Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian, 1992

• “Folktales of Lola Ita”, sponsored by Amauan, Applecore Theater, New York, NY 1988

WORKSHOPS AND LECTURES Pacita constantly gave workshops and artist talks to children, women and students across the world during her 32-year artistic career.

2004 “Painting the Globe” Artist Talk, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore

"ArtSingapore 2004: Asian Contemporary Art, Where Are We Going From Here?" Artist Talk, Suntec City, Singapore

"Paper Pulp and Print" Workshop for Globe Quest guest, in conjunction to the "Circles in My Mind" exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Manila

2004

2003

2002

2001

"Paper Pulp and Print" Workshop for Singapore Airlines guest, in conjunction to the "Circles in My Mind" exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Manila "Make-A-Wish Workshop" with Klein, a 9-year old PhilippineSingaporean boy who suffers from cancer “Collage Painting” Workshop, Tanglin Trust School, Singapore “Finns in Singapore Trapunto Painting” Workshop, Singapore “Contemporary Trends of Philippine Art Overseas”, talk given to docents at Singapore Art Museum “Trapunto Painting” Workshop, given to Scandinavian community in Singapore ”Trapunto painting”, Asian Civilization Museum Singapore “Collage Painting” Workshop, Tanglin Trust School, Singapore “Collage Painting” Workshop, Singapore Art Museum “Asian Contemporary Art”, Artist Talk, Singapore Art Museum “The Philippines: Prospects in Business and the Arts”, sponsored by Philippine Cultural Society at Hilton Hotel, Singapore “Trapunto Painting” Workshops given to members of Singapore Art Museum, Tanglin Trust students, talk and slide presentation given to American Club members in Singapore “The 9/11 Phoenix Project”, a collaborative Trapunto Workshop at the Southwest School of Arts and Crafts that created a three muralinstallation with local artists from San Antonio, Texas

2000

1999

1998

1996

1995

1994

1993

"Wayang Influences on Art”, lecture given to Indonesian Heritage Society, Jakarta, Indonesia Trapunto Painting workshops at the Tanglin Trust School, Singapore; Metropolitan Museum of Manila Artist Talk, Singapore Art Museum and LaSalle College of Art, Singapore Artist Talk, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco Trapunto Painting Workshop, University of the Philippines and Metropolitan Museum of Manila Trapunto Painting Workshop, National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta Trapunto Painting Workshop, Metropolitan Museum of Manila and British School in Jakarta, Indonesia "Artist + Community”, trapunto painting workshop given to schools in Maryland and Washington, DC (Savoy Elementary School, Thompson Elementary School, Oyster Bilingual School, Mabuhay Group) sponsored by the National Museum for Women in the Arts "Exploring America's Cultures: Asian American Art & Culture”, Columbia University Teacher's College, New York, NY "Cultural Identity: Evaluating Otherness”, Crafts and Ethics Symposium, Sawtooth Center for Visual Arts, Winston-Salem, North Carolina Textile Museum mask-making workshop for Oyster Bilingual Elementary School students, Washington, DC

1993

1992

1991

1991

1989

"Light in the Labyrinth”, painting workshop with patients with Alzheimer's to sharpen their remaining abilities, help maintain mind and motor skills and encourage independence, work with the Meridian Healthcare's FOCUS program “Potomac Craftsmen”, lecture on trapunto paintings, Washington, D.C Asian-American Pacific Heritage Council Conference, "Impact of Arts, Culture and Media on the Politics and Economics of Asian Pacific”, panel, Arlington, Virginia Philippine Arts, Letters and Media, Washington, DC trapunto painting workshop Pyramid Atlantic, "Asian Festival”, mural workshop for Asian children University of the Philippines, Trapunto Painting Workshop University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Art To Wear workshop Textile Museum, Washington, DC "Celebration of Textiles”, workshop George Washington University, Dimock Gallery in relation to the show, "Temples of Gold, Crowns of Silver”, lecture Art In Public Places, MetroArt II, Washington DC, Artist Talk MetroArt in Washington, Washington, DC, Artist Talk Imagination Celebration-Kennedy Center Mural Workshop New York State Council on the Arts, Lincoln Community Center, New York, NY, Trapunto Painting Workshop for Amauan members

1988

1986

1979

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, taught two, three-month courses on trapunto painting Lectures given to students at schools and universities: Boston University; University of Massachusetts; College of Arts, Sudan; Dhaka College of Fine Arts in Bangladesh; public schools and colleges in Metropolitan Manila Lectures given to museums and other organizations: Shilpakala Academy of Fine Arts, Bangladesh; Bhirasri Museum of Modern Art, Thailand; Museum of Philippine Art; Cultural Center of the Philippines; Ayala Museum; World Affairs Council of Northern California; Jaycees and Rotary Clubs in the Philippines; and various women's organizations

AWARDS, GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS Pacita received many awards, fellowships and artist residencies during her career

• ALIWW “Parangal” Ateneo University, Manila, Philippines • GENOME Institute of Singapore, Singapore, artist-in-residence, 2004 • Centre d’Art Marnay Art Centre, Marnay, France, artist-in-residence, 2003 • Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore, artist-in-residence, Visiting Artists Program, 2003 • Southwest School of Art and Craft, San Antonio, Texas, artist-in-residence, 2001 • Montclair State University, New Jersey, artist-in-residence, 2001 • Lindshammar, Sweden, Glass painting, Indra technique, artist-in-residence, 2001 • PAMANA NG PILIPINO Award for outstanding achievement in the arts, given by the President of the Philippines, Manila, 2000

• "Filipina Firsts”, a compendium of 100 Filipino women who have broken ground in their fields of endeavor organized by the Philippine American Foundation in Manila and Washington, DC, 1998 • Likha Award marking the Centennial of Philippine Independence, given in recognition of outstanding achievement, 1998 • Excellence 2000 Awards for the Arts, given by U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC, 1995 • Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Artist Workshop Program, 1993-94 • OPUS B, a production company in Maryland creating collaborations between elders, inner-city youth and artists, artist-in-resident, 1993 • Virginia Center for Creative Arts, artist-in-resident, 1992, 1994, 1996 • Rutgers Center for Innovative Printmaking, artist-in-residence, 1991, 1992 and 1993 • Gwendolyn Caffritz Award, Pyramid Atlantic, artist-in-residence, 1991 and 1992 • MetroArt II Award, mural installed at Metro Center, Washington, DC 199095 • National Endowment for the Arts, Visual Arts Fellowship, 1989-90 • DC Commission on the Arts, GIA Grant, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1991-92 • New York State Council on the Arts, Visiting Artist Program, 1988-89 • TOYM Award for the Most Outstanding Young Artist in the Philippines, 1984 • Altos de Chavon, Dominican Republic, artist-in-residence, 1982

WORK IN MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

• Ayala Museum of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines • Bhirasri Museum of Modern Art, Bangkok, Thailand • Bronx Museum of the Art, Bronx, New York • Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines • Eugenio Lopez Museum, Manila, Philippines • Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan • Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, New Jersey • Jordan National Gallery of Fine Art, Amman, Jordan • Lopez Memorial Museum, Manila, Philippines • Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Philippines • Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic • Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba • Museum and Art Gallery in the Northern Territory, Darwin, Australia • Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Boston, Massachusetts • National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia • National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C. • National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C. • National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea • National Museum, Colombo, Sri Lanka • National Museum, Dhaka, Bangladesh • National Museum, Jakarta, Indonesia • Singapore Art Museum, Singapore • Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan

Fundaciรณn Pacita, Batanes