Cathy Abraham
Cape Town, Western Province, ZA
Cathy Abraham was born in 1968 in Cape Town, South Africa where she currently lives andΒ works. She specialised in process-based art at the Michaelis School of Fine Arts, University ofΒ Cape Town (UCT), where she graduated with a Masterβs in Fine Art with Distinction in 2018.Β Abrahamβs creative work brings together seemingly disparate entities through a ritual basedΒ practice. She uses mediums that reflect the subject matter which include film, mixed media,Β installation and participation as well as painting and sculpture.Β
Selected group exhibitions include The Great South African Nude, at Everard Read inΒ Johannesburg, and Spring Art Fair at SMAC Gallery in Stellenbosch, both in 2009; DomesticΒ Departures at The Forge in Cape Town in 2011; In Good Company, curated by MichaelΒ Chandler at the Irma Stern Museum in Cape Town in 2013; Art/Out of the Ordinary, curated byΒ Marilyn Martin at the Association of Visual Arts (AVA) in Cape Town in 2015; The Shape ofΒ Nothing at Michaelis Galleries, UCT; The Spirit of Stern, curated by Michael Chandler at theΒ Irma Stern Museum in Cape Town; and The Space Between, curated by Mari Macdonald at theΒ South African Jewish Museum in Cape Town, all in 2016.
Abrahamβs first solo show, Naked, was held at the Joao Ferreira Gallery in Cape Town, in 2008.Β Notably, amongst other solo exhibitions Abraham presented a solo exhibition at the South African Jewish Museum in Cape Town in 2013, entitled Undying Entanglement, comprised of installation, film and works on paper.Β
Abrahamβs work reflects her belief in an intrinsic link between art and science.Β Using a structure of numbers, informed by Gematria β a system within the mystical teachingsΒ of Kabbalah and the practice of repetition, she aims to unlock meaning through repetitiveΒ brushstrokes and drawings.
βCounting forms a fundamental part of my artistic practice, paying special attention to theΒ numbers 9, 18 and 36. I work systematically to unlock surface meaning in the search for aΒ deeper understanding of purpose and logic in every day occurrences.β Abraham worksΒ systematically to unlock surface meaning in the search for a deeper understanding of theΒ purpose of the everyday.
Selected group exhibitions include The Great South African Nude, at Everard Read inΒ Johannesburg, and Spring Art Fair at SMAC Gallery in Stellenbosch, both in 2009; DomesticΒ Departures at The Forge in Cape Town in 2011; In Good Company, curated by MichaelΒ Chandler at the Irma Stern Museum in Cape Town in 2013; Art/Out of the Ordinary, curated byΒ Marilyn Martin at the Association of Visual Arts (AVA) in Cape Town in 2015; The Shape ofΒ Nothing at Michaelis Galleries, UCT; The Spirit of Stern, curated by Michael Chandler at theΒ Irma Stern Museum in Cape Town; and The Space Between, curated by Mari Macdonald at theΒ South African Jewish Museum in Cape Town, all in 2016.
Abrahamβs first solo show, Naked, was held at the Joao Ferreira Gallery in Cape Town, in 2008.Β Notably, amongst other solo exhibitions Abraham presented a solo exhibition at the South African Jewish Museum in Cape Town in 2013, entitled Undying Entanglement, comprised of installation, film and works on paper.Β
Abrahamβs work reflects her belief in an intrinsic link between art and science.Β Using a structure of numbers, informed by Gematria β a system within the mystical teachingsΒ of Kabbalah and the practice of repetition, she aims to unlock meaning through repetitiveΒ brushstrokes and drawings.
βCounting forms a fundamental part of my artistic practice, paying special attention to theΒ numbers 9, 18 and 36. I work systematically to unlock surface meaning in the search for aΒ deeper understanding of purpose and logic in every day occurrences.β Abraham worksΒ systematically to unlock surface meaning in the search for a deeper understanding of theΒ purpose of the everyday.
Artworks
