Philip Mabote

“If a bird believes it is an eagle long enough, it will eventually end up soaring like one.” – Matshona Dhliwayo

Much of what this existence is for us as humans can be understood as and synthesized into a desperate desire to understand who we are in this ocean of chaos called life. Discovering who we are and how we fit into things is a subject which has fascinated, artists, spiritualists, psychologists and a variety of great thinkers since the beginning of time. It is a subject equally as important to artist, Phillip Mabote, as his is an artistic practice which interrogates the questions surrounding his own origin story.

Mabote’s presentations of eagles bound by rope all serve as metaphorical representations of a man’s search for his biological mother. These works are as much rooted in a need to discover his birth mother as a means to unraveling the mysteries of who Phillip Mabote is as a person; as much as they are about being eternally bound to continuing on a journey until he has found his mother and found the answers he needs to bring solace to both his and his children’s lives. It is for this reason that Mabote represents his  relentless searching with depictions of eagles; they’re hunting abilities and keen eyesight, become clues to understanding not only the extent of time dedicated to his search but also alludes to the amount of detail given to his efforts. Introduced initially in a 2015 piece titled Never give up, which is a depiction of a silhouetted female figure and the first appearance of an eagle. Mabote’s inception of this foreign bird of prey is meant to symbolise the tireless pursuit of the unknown.

Mabote’s eagles exist on multiple levels, apart from it serving as an indicator of his constant searching. This foreign bird is simultaneously tied to his grandmother who took care of him during his formative years, and who was later discovered to not be a blood-linked family member. There are also glimpses of spirituality being drawn upon, as references are made to African ancestry through the symbolic use of bees; - this makes it easier for us as viewers to make correlations to this and the spiritual significance eagles play in cultures such as those of the Native American peoples. The multifaceted nature of the works created by Phillip Magote thus open themselves up to a span of readings from those of the spiritual to those bound to more tangible realities. Magote’s works no longer exist as representations of mere eagles, bees or fligted creatures but exist as metaphorical compasses in search of numerous signifies of a true north. It is, however, worthwhile to note that apart from these works solely serving as illustrations of his own personal struggles, Mabote, aims to use his creations as unifies to those facing similar challenges.