The Village Where I Came From
Pacita Abad was known for her mural-like paintings, comprising hand-stitched textiles that are painted and adorned with accessories. Born in the Batanes province of the Philippines, Abad came to the United States as a student of law and history before training as a painter at the Corcoran School of Art in the late 1970s. She integrated painted lines and contours of figures with stitches and patches to create her own language of storytelling. In doing so, she placed the trapunto technique of quilting, traditionally associated with craft, in the realm of visual art.
The Village Where I Came From consists of repurposed, collaged sections from Abad’s 1970s oil paintings that depicted everyday scenes witnessed during her travels to Sudan, Guatemala, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and other countries. She also added new scenes and backgrounds to the overall composition, resulting in a vibrant mix of perspectives and scale. Many vignettes center on women nursing, head-carrying, tending livestock, selling or buying provisions, or a combination of several tasks at once. Colorful fabrics and verdant landscapes fill the space, indicating a tropical setting. The title indicates the affinities Abad saw between the architecture and social spaces of other communities and her own experience as a villager, Filipina, woman, and immigrant. This painting thus reflects an internationalism expressed by the artist throughout her life and career.
The Village Where I Came From consists of repurposed, collaged sections from Abad’s 1970s oil paintings that depicted everyday scenes witnessed during her travels to Sudan, Guatemala, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and other countries. She also added new scenes and backgrounds to the overall composition, resulting in a vibrant mix of perspectives and scale. Many vignettes center on women nursing, head-carrying, tending livestock, selling or buying provisions, or a combination of several tasks at once. Colorful fabrics and verdant landscapes fill the space, indicating a tropical setting. The title indicates the affinities Abad saw between the architecture and social spaces of other communities and her own experience as a villager, Filipina, woman, and immigrant. This painting thus reflects an internationalism expressed by the artist throughout her life and career.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Village Where I Came From
- Artist: Pacita Abad (Filipino American, Basco, Philippines 1946–2004 Singapore)
- Date: 1991
- Medium: Acrylic, oil, buttons, beads, and painted cloth on stitched and padded canvas
- Dimensions: 96 in. × 70 1/2 in. (243.8 × 179.1 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift and Fernando Zobel de Ayala Gift, 2024
- Object Number: 2024.286
- Rights and Reproduction: © Pacita Abad Art Estate LLC
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Mark Rothko
1958
Alma Thomas
1972
Frank Bowling
1969–70
Carmen Herrera
1949
Henry Taylor
2017
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.