Working with ghosts: Cathy Abraham puts magic worlds on canvas

Your use of colour combined with technique is special and unique — what inspired it?

My work is underpinned with the techniques of repetition and counting as a structure. The inner meaning of the works is infused by these structures. When choosing colour, I’m informed by an intuitive response to the world within and about me.

Where did it all start?

I have always lived in an imaginary world infused with magical sayings. Some people outgrow this at the age of about 12, but I did not. Initially, I took to the stage, saying performance was my path, but I discovered painting in my early twenties and knew immediately I was home.

My art training then began in private art tuition with Lindy Solomon. I went on to learn from master teachers Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky. In 2016, I returned to university to begin at the Michaelis School of Fine Arts, where I graduated in 2018. I was incredibly lucky to have the most brilliant supervisors in Virginia MacKenny and Carine Zyman.

Who would you say are you biggest artistic influences as an artist?

Roman Opalka, Agnes Martin, the Korean Dansaekwha movement, Marina Abramovic, Kimsooja and my brilliant colleagues and teachers throughout my life.

Overall, though, I would say my muse is my husband, Stephen Abraham.

Who or what inspires you most right now and why?

Kabbalistic teachings have been quite prominent recently. Within the system of mystical teachings from the Kabbalah, there is something called Gematria which is to do with the alphanumeric meanings attributed to certain numbers in the universe. For example, the number 18 means life.

If I wish to infuse “life” into the meditation of the repetitive brushstrokes or drawings, I do this using the number 18, painting 18 strokes at a time. I work from right to left and left to right, allowing the brushstrokes or “ghosts” to overlap as a metaphor for what they do in life and on the planet too. 

More recently, I have begun using the Sefirot, which are 10 emanations (there is a hidden 11th one too). Between these Sefirot are 22 pathways linking them — and they move in both directions.

For this reason and based on some of the research I have been doing, I have been using the number 22 as well. Counting forms an important part of my practice. I use particular numbers and combinations of numbers over and over again — specifically 9, 11, 13, 18, 22 and 36. 

What motivates you to create and when is your most productive time of the day?

I am motivated by an intrinsic desire to leave something of substance behind me when I’m gone. Someone wise once told me that when leaving the studio at night or at the end of the day, we must always be mindful that we may not wake up the next day and what we leave out on our tables or walls could be our last words.

How has your style changed over time?

I’m not sure my style has changed that much but my mediums have. I spent years making large-scale installations and films and for the past three years, I have been painting. I am still applying the same philosophies and intentions to the work, though.

What is your favourite and least favourite parts of being a professional artist?

I love everything about being an artist especially that there is no end to how much there is to learn and discover. No matter how many times something is repeated, the repeating always opens up new meanings.

What are you now working on?

I am still working with my ghosts, only shifting the number formations to work more specifically with the Kabbalah Sefirot with 10 different emanations and the pathways between all of them. I refer to my repetitive brushmarks as “ghostings” or ghosts as I begin with a brush laden with paint and count the strokes until the paint is very faint, not quite gone but still leaving a residue and an impression — something like a ghost would do. Also, the ghost is a reference to memory or trauma, which leaves its impression — sometimes strongly, sometimes faintly — within us and in turn, we as humans [impress] on the planet.

Where is the most beautiful  place you’ve ever been? 

The Timbavati in Greater Kruger. I love being immersed in nature; it’s wild and humbling. Under the African skies as they change, bringing all kinds of weather, starting the days really early, listening to the birds and watching all the animals. The trees, endless leaf shapes and brilliant spider webs all feed my soul.

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