Eileen R. Tabios is a poet working in multiple genres and in-between. She also loves books by writing, reading, publishing, critiquing, romancing and advocating for them. This blog will feature her bibliophilic activities with posts on current book engagements and links to her books and projects related to books.

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

THE POETICS OF PACITA ABAD'S "AVOCADO"


I'm pleased to share "Avocado," the painting by Pacita Abad that will grace the cover of one of my 2018 books, MURDER DEATH RESURRECTION. The book includes an "About the Cover Image" section which I love including in my books though I don't do it everytime. Here's an excerpt, w/ the 2nd paragraph reflecting Pacita Abad's talent as a master colorist:
I was interested in featuring “Avocado” on the cover because I consider a poem to be, among other things, a mirror to its reader(s). The poet begins a poem; the reader finishes it, and does so with their interpretation. The latter means the reader brings to the poem what ultimately will become (one of) its significance—in this sense do I consider the poem a “mirror” as the poem also becomes about or reflects back its reader. There are nine mirrors on the canvas—while their alignment (3 x 3) promotes the visual characteristic of harmony, it’s the plurality of the number that is significant to me for reflecting the idea that the same poem can generate different significances or reflections from different readers, or from more than one reading by the same reader.  
I also chose “Avocado” to be on my book’s cover because I admired the painting’s presentation of the color pink. “Avocado” may be only the second time I’ve admired the use of pink in a painting (the first would be pink’s appearance in several of Philip Guston’s works). Color is a narrative and I admire what I deem to be the stubborn optimism and improbable rebellion of pink. The optimism is affirmed, in my opinion, by the use of bright yellow in the painting.
As regards the bright colors, it reflects how the project ultimately concludes with RESURRECTION, not the other two words.


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