Michael McCabe

Michael Duane McCabe (1961–2023) was a Diné (Navajo) monotype artist, master printmaker and teacher. His work is found in the permanent collection of the Portland Art Museum and many of his works are held in the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts.

Early life and education McCabe was born February 8, 1961, on the Navajo Nation He attended high school in Santa Fe, and went on to attend the Institute of American Indian Arts with an emphasis in printmaking as well as ceramic arts and creative writing. After graduating from IAIA, he attended Naropa Institute where he studied Poetics and Spiritual Practices in conjunction with the One World Poetry Conference. Some of his teachers included Allen Ginsberg, Diane Di Prima and Gregory Corso. For a time he worked in a studio on the Pojoaque Pueblo while living in Cuyamunge, New Mexico.

He worked in the monoprint genre for nearly forty years, focusing on viscosity printing with multiple colors. Some of the artists he printed for included Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and Forrest Moses.

His monoprints were usually one-of-a-kind, and that were printed on smoothly surfaced, non-absorbent paper, and often included collage or Chine-collé techniques. His style has been described as "expressive". Trend Magazine stated that he "pushed the technique into ever-changing combinations of inks, materials, and methods." Some of his prints include photographs to create "layered collaged works" that included such imagery as ravens, Asian calligraphy, a photograph of his nomadic great-grandfather, and vintage hand-written letters from the 19th century. His work is also held in the Portland Art Museum and the University of Arizona Museum of Art.

Death McCabe had debilitating arthritis. He died at age 62 on April 3, 2023, after an extended struggle with health problems.