{"id":481730,"date":"2026-05-13T00:33:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/481730\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T00:33:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:33:18","slug":"in-door-to-life-pacita-abad-evokes-traditional-yemeni-architecture-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/481730\/","title":{"rendered":"In ‘Door to Life,’ Pacita Abad Evokes Traditional Yemeni Architecture \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout her illustrious 32-year career, Pacita Abad<\/a> (1946-2004) traveled to more than 60 countries. Myriad experiences ultimately introduced her to a wide range of techniques, materials, and relationships, shaping the artist\u2019s practice over time. Movement provided an enduring source of new ideas and inspiration, and as she put it, \u201cFor me, traveling is my art school.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the spring of 1998, Abad visited Yemen. At the time, the country was still in recovery following the Yemeni Civil War<\/a>, which took place four years prior. Grounded in her rigorous political engagement and the instabilities experienced in her native Philippines, Abad reflected on the immutable significance of cultural practices and their value despite periods of upheaval.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cDoor made of straw III\u201d (1998), oil, acrylic, painted and dyed canvas, painted cloth stitched on canvas, 85 x 56 1\/4 inches<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than positioning herself within a nameable lineage of artistic influences who moved in\u00a0conventional gallery spaces,\u201d Tina Kim Gallery<\/a> notes,\u00a0\u201cAbad instead favored the inheritance of historically anonymous workers in craft, textiles, and\u00a0the decorative arts, from locations outside of established Western institutional and market infrastructure.\u201d This quote appears in a statement for the New York gallery\u2019s third solo exhibition of Abad\u2019s works, titled Door to Life.<\/p>\n

The presentation highlights a body of work Abad completed in subsequent years, which takes inspiration from Yemen\u2019s vibrant, ornate displays of architecture and decoration<\/a>. One particular focus was doors, which the gallery refers to as \u201cportals.\u201d Through countless photographs and numerous sketches of doorways she encountered on excursions, Abad created a prolific visual archive to take home and use as reference, adding \u201cEveryday a new idea, everyday a new door.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"an<\/a>Installation view of \u201cPacita Abad: Door to Life\u201d<\/p>\n

Crafted in her signature trapunto style<\/a>, Abad\u2019s vertical, rectangular compositions layer meaning, memories, and material. Painted and appliqu\u00e9d geometric patterns on canvas call to decorative elements found in traditional Yemeni architecture, like tessellations and botanical motifs.<\/p>\n

The artist\u2019s series of never-before-seen qamariya paintings are evocative of the semicircular glass windows common in Sanaa, the nation\u2019s capital\u2014another key element of Yemen\u2019s time-honored artisan practices. The Arabic term qamariya translates to \u201cmoon-like\u201d or \u201cof the moon,\u201d echoing the glass structures\u2019 half-moon shape and dynamic ability to transmit light.<\/p>\n

Door to Life continues through June 20 at Tina Kim Gallery in New York. You can also flip through<\/a> more works, which were previously compiled into a small publication that supplemented Abad\u2019s initial Door to Life exhibition in 1999.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cDoor made of straw I\u201d (1998), oil, acrylic, printed cloth, dyed canvas stitched on straw mat, 89 x 53 1\/8 inches<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Detail of \u201cWhite Heightens the Awareness of the Senses\u201d (1998)<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cI Am By The Door in a Second\u201d (1999), oil, painted cotton collaged and stitched on canvas, 61 1\/2 x 38 1\/8 inches<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cWhite Heightens the Awareness of the Senses\u201d (1998), oil, acrylic, oil pastel, dyed cotton, painted canvas, painted cloth stitched on canvas, 84 x 63 inches<\/p>\n

\"an<\/a>Installation view of \u201cPacita Abad: Door to Life\u201d<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cBeside You\u201d (2001), oil and painted canvas stitched on canvas, 18 1\/2 x 18 1\/2 x 2 inches framed<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cStained glass door in Sanaa\u201d (1998), oil, printed cloth, painted canvas stitched on canvas 83 x 61 3\/4 x 1 1\/4 inches<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cRainbow door\u201d (1998), oil, painted printed cloth stitched on canvas, 82 1\/4 x 58 1\/2 x 1 1\/4 inches<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cGray Border\u201d (2001), oil and painted canvas stitched on canvas, 18 1\/2 x 18 1\/2 x 2 inches framed<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cDoor Connects Me to the Greatest Happiness I Have\u201d (1999), oil, painted cloth, buttons stitched on padded canvas, 59 3\/4 x 38 5\/8 inches<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Qamariya Window (series) (2000), oil on paper, dimensions variable<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Detail of \u201cDoor made of straw III\u201d (1998)<\/p>\n

\"Pacita<\/a>Pacita Abad with \u201cDoor to Life\u201d paintings in Jakarta (1999). Courtesy of the Pacita Abad Art Estate<\/p>\n

\"Pacita<\/a>Pacita Abad with \u201cDoor to Life\u201d paintings in Jakarta (1999). Courtesy of the Pacita Abad Art Estate<\/p>\n

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