Hooker's green

Hooker's green is an excellent example of Pacita Abad's canvas collage painting technique. She has combined traditional art materials of acrylic and oil paint with non-art materials of plastic buttons stitched on canvas, gifting the work with layered elements, choreographing and pulling together the entire creation with her stitches on the canvas. Her openness to experimenting with a diversity of materials allows an extension to the dramatics of painting. Even the paint surface is extended onto the edges of the frame, as can be seen in this work. 'I notice that if I use a carved wooden frame it looks good, but I know that if I cover the frame with materials, whether batik, ikat or tie dye, it enhances the work and makes it more attractive and complete.' (Ian Findlay-Brown, 'Exploring the Spirit and the Senses' in Pacita Abad, Exploring the Spirit, Jakarta, 1996, p. 18.) Pacita Abad, Exploring the Spirit is a collection of work which bears bold witness to the results of her experimentation.