ARABELLA CACCIA, Liuwa Plains, Zambia, 2023
embroidery on hand painted velvet & chiffon, 76 x 115 cm
Although born in London, Caccia grew up in Tuscany before moving to Johannesburg, where she spent her teenage years. She studied at Edinburgh University and later lived and studied in Florence, London, and New York. In 1990, she returned to South Africa,
and now lives and works in Cape Town. Caccia draws inspiration from nature – from the unique light of her surroundings to the wilderness where she finds peace and silence. The sense of quiet and stillness in her work reflects the calm environment she cultivates to access her creativity
"My hope is that my art and the journey that has shaped it will inspire others to cultivate a playful curiosity about the natural world. I hope it encourages people to engage with nature in a way that nurtures their intuition, creativity, and sense of wonder. Through my work, I aim to invite others to experience nature with the same depth of appreciation I’ve been fortunate enough to encounter. May my creations serve as a bridge, connecting people to the beauty and magic of the natural world and fostering a deeper connection with the world around us.’
– Arabella Caccia
Caccia’s recent work explores patterns found in the interplay of light and dark on natural forms. Her paintings and sculptures employ an abstract language of semi-symbolic glyphs inspired by these patterns. Her work is fundamentally rooted in a belief in the importance of process. Using an ‘alphabet’ of glyphs derived from her study of nature, Caccia employs two- and three-dimensional mark-making to express a state of being.