Pacita Abad

Pacita Abad was a Filipino-American visual artist known for her vibrant, mixed-media works.

She integrated fiber art with painting to create unique, textured pieces. Her work is most famous for a technique called trapunto painting. This method involves stitching and padding fabric to create a sculptural, three-dimensional effect on a canvas. By combining these tactile elements with bright colors, she transformed traditional painting into something that feels almost like a physical object. Her massive body of work has been exhibited in over 200 museums and galleries worldwide.

Abad's creative process was highly complex and relied on many different materials. She did not limit herself to just paint and canvas. Instead, she used barkcloth, metal, ceramics, and glass to build her surfaces. In her trapunto works, she would stitch fabric and stuff it to make it rise from the background. She also incorporated diverse objects like beads, shells, buttons, mirrors, and gold thread.

This layering of materials allowed her to explore both visual color and physical texture simultaneously.

Her artistic style evolved through several distinct stages and themes. Early in her career, she focused on figurative socio-political works. These often depicted people or primitive masks to comment on social issues. She later moved into large-scale paintings of underwater scenes, tropical flowers, and wildlife. Her most extensive period involved colorful abstract works. These included many small collages and large canvases that used repeating patterns, such as the rice stalks in her Asian Abstractions series. She also created specialized series like the Indonesian wayang puppet depictions, which eventually led to a commission for custom dinnerware.

Abad's life path was shaped by significant political and personal shifts. Born in Basco, Batanes, on October 5, 1946, she was the fifth of thirteen children. Her parents, Jorge and Aurora Abad, were both political leaders in the Philippines. While studying political science at the University of the Philippines Diliman, she participated in student demonstrations. These protests responded to the political climate during the 1969 Philippine general election. After moving to the United States, she initially pursued studies in history and law. However, she eventually chose to relinquish a law school scholarship to pursue painting full-time.

Global travel was a primary driver of her artistic development. Between 1978 and 1980, Abad traveled through Bangladesh, Sudan, and Thailand. During these trips, she observed Indigenous art traditions and visited refugee camps. These experiences directly informed her Portraits of Kampuchea series, which she exhibited in Bangkok in 1980. Her husband, Jack Garrity, worked as a development economist, which allowed the couple to visit more than 60 countries. This constant movement provided her with a continuous stream of new cultures, colors, and perspectives to include in her art.

Abad's career was marked by incredible productivity and international reach. She created over 4,500 individual artworks during her lifetime. Her pieces are now held in public and private collections in more than 70 countries. She held 75 solo exhibitions throughout her career. One of her most public projects involved the Alkaff Bridge in Singapore. Shortly before her death in 2004, she covered the 55-meter bridge with 2,350 colorful circles. Today, this structure is known as the Singapore ArtBridge.

Her work connects the worlds of fine art, social activism, and cultural heritage. She used her talent to respond to major historical events, such as the September 11 attacks and the Los Angeles riots. By blending the craft of sewing with the discipline of painting, she bridged the gap between fiber arts and traditional fine art. In her home region of Batanes, she established Fundacion Pacita.

This clifftop studio and residence serves as a lasting connection to her roots and her creative spirit.