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Lot Essay
Orange Punch (Lot 369) is a vibrant textile collage by internationally renowned Filipino artist Pacita Abad, from her last major series Endless Blues. A disciplined and prolific artist, Abad's inquisitive nature and innovative spirit led her to experiment fearlessly with different mediums and techniques that inspired her on her travels around the world. Despite the countless forms they took, Abad's extensive oeuvre is characterised by her consistent use of bold and vibrant colours. Abstract or figurative, her works are a diverse combination of luminous oil paints, vividly patterned cloths, and an array of found material, stitched together to form an enchanting tapestry that tells the story of the artist's experience.
Completed in 2003, Orange Punch was executed in the year before Pacita Abad's passing. From 2001 to 2004, Abad battled courageously against cancer in her lungs. With the doctor's strict travel ban, the avid traveller took refuge in her studio, a sanctuary she turned to for her peaceful recovery. Blues music became a significant part of her therapy, and she often found herself lost in the jazzy rhythms and melancholic melodies of the music. Abad likens her textile collages of the series to the music genre that carried her through this trying time - "always strong, sometimes sad, a bit nostalgic, and very colourful". Orange Punch typifies the essence of Abad's final series. With a hodgepodge of fabrics from the many trips she had taken around the world painstakingly stitched onto the canvas base, and the energetic sweeping strokes of fluorescent orange and yellow paint that bring the individual islands of cloth together, Abad harmonises the different aspects of her 32-year long career. Spontaneity drives the lively composition as if the geometric shapes could leap forth in an exuberant dance. In an amalgam of meaningful traditional textiles and Abad's flair for contemporary painting, the present lot celebrates the beauty of life in a sensory feast, captivating the viewer with the tactile nature of this visually arresting work.
Completed in 2003, Orange Punch was executed in the year before Pacita Abad's passing. From 2001 to 2004, Abad battled courageously against cancer in her lungs. With the doctor's strict travel ban, the avid traveller took refuge in her studio, a sanctuary she turned to for her peaceful recovery. Blues music became a significant part of her therapy, and she often found herself lost in the jazzy rhythms and melancholic melodies of the music. Abad likens her textile collages of the series to the music genre that carried her through this trying time - "always strong, sometimes sad, a bit nostalgic, and very colourful". Orange Punch typifies the essence of Abad's final series. With a hodgepodge of fabrics from the many trips she had taken around the world painstakingly stitched onto the canvas base, and the energetic sweeping strokes of fluorescent orange and yellow paint that bring the individual islands of cloth together, Abad harmonises the different aspects of her 32-year long career. Spontaneity drives the lively composition as if the geometric shapes could leap forth in an exuberant dance. In an amalgam of meaningful traditional textiles and Abad's flair for contemporary painting, the present lot celebrates the beauty of life in a sensory feast, captivating the viewer with the tactile nature of this visually arresting work.