Travis Ian McKie was born in Brisbane on 18 May 1914 and studied at the Brisbane Boys Grammar School from 1928 to 1930. He began his art training under Martyn Roberts at the Central Technical College, Brisbane, the following year. McKie departed for England in 1935 where he continued his studies at the Kennington Art School and the Chelsea Polytechnic. During his time in Europe he visited galleries in Germany, Belgium and Holland in the company of the sculptor, Lyndon Dadswell.

While in England he worked with the Australian artist Will Longstaff for a period of 18 months, helping with the execution of the murals and dioramas for the Australian Pavilion for the “Empire Exhibition”, Glasgow, which opened in 1938. He returned to Queensland in 1938 when he contributed to the annual exhibition of the Royal Queensland Art Society.

After his return he enlisted in the Australian Army, serving in the 2/9th Battalion in England and the 2/15th Battalion in the Middle East from 1939 to 1943. McKie shared an exhibition with Brisbane artist Clothilde Highton at the Canberra Hotel, Brisbane, in 1945. After this time McKie worked as a journalist for The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, and The Telegraph, Sydney, before taking employment with the public service in Papua and New Guinea from 1948 where two of his children were born. A collection of drawings and rubbings he put together to document indigenous art and to record the transmission of motifs were destroyed by fire in 1951. He remained within the public service where he served variously as a publication, broadcast and visual education officer but all traces of his output disappear after his 1952 exhibition of watercolours from Papua and New Guinea at the Moreton Galleries, Brisbane.

Writers:

Cooke, Glenn R.

Date written:

2009

Last updated:

2011