Artists of Walker Bay Modern Art.
Patrick McCabe.
Biography
Patrick McCabe was born in Johannesburg, but has lived most of his life in Cape Town and Asia.
His natural drawing ability together with his love of nature and the fascination of movement in animals and people encouraged him to develop his artistic skills from a young age.
Patrick McCabe's artistic career started at the UCT Ballet School, where he went on to dance professionally for a number of years with the CAPAB Ballet Company as well as appearing in the Academy Theatre's production of West Side Story.
After pursuing his dancing career, Patrick steered his creative skills into the fashion clothing world, where he was involved in retail buying, fashion catalogues, clothing design and manufacturing.
His fashion clothing experience enabled him to be based in the East for 17 years, where he had the good fortune of living for a number of years in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.
Having had the opportunity to travel worldwide, he gained invaluable international exposure to the American, European and Asian Arts and Culture. This experience, together with his African roots, has had a profound influence on his art.
Inspiration
Patrick believes that an artist subconsciously draws from life's experiences and develops a broader philosophy on life which is reflected in their work.
One appreciates that despite differences in race, colour, language, beliefs, education and culture, we all share a similar DNA and Spirit. We all breathe the same air as we share this planet. Our daily lives and futures are ultimately tied in a common destiny.
We live in a world of diminishing resources, which should be protected for future generations. One thing common to all cultures is the marvel of nature, and respect for the forces of nature which include extremes such as typhoons, earth quakes and tsunamis. This heightens our awareness of how short and transient our lives are and how fragile our very existence is.
Although Patrick's painting style is continually developing, he utilises the South African fynbos as a metaphor/analogy for this transient cycle of life. Liberal use of the colour Gold reflects his spiritual reverence of nature and as a symbol for the need for Mankind to strive towards a higher state of being and tolerance of each other.
His "Fragment Series" interprets the magnification of our soil, which symbolises a need for deeper reflection of the footprint we leave on this earth.
Through Patrick's use of texture, colour and form in his different painting medias, such as charcoal, ink, acrylics and oils, his paintings encapsulate his great love of life, people and nature.