"BUTTON ART" by REMY "MIMA" CABACUNGAN
"Button Art" REMY "MIMA" CABACUNGAN Pop-Up Exhibit Nov. 2, 2019 Just as the African-American community was graced by the masterful quilters of Gee’s Bend , Alabama, the Filipino-American community was graced by the cushion art of Remy “Mima” Cabacungan. In 2005, just before turning 98 years old, Mima participated in the group exhibit “Brown Strokes on White Canvas” at the University of Phoenix, curated by Julian Oteyza and Linda Pirrone. You can see a write-up I did at Our Own Voice , December 2008 , accompanied by a press release that offers the history to Mima’s “Button Vision” for creating art based on embroidered cushions. I thought the works profound with their colorist perspectives, uplifting the pretty cushion genre into sophisticated postmodernism. Here are some examples; I love the joyful wit of the third image entitled “Dalmatian”! Ever since I saw the images of Mima’s “button art” at that exhibit, I had longed for one s...