About
Gene Lesouw

Gene Lesouw (1998) is a Cape Town artist born in Kuilsrivier, who studied at the Cape Town Creative Academy.

Lesouw's work uses a childlike perception to explore human imagination and the unconscious mind. Striving to strike a balance between abstraction and figuration, Lesouw simplifies forms and compositions to their essential shapes, while still maintaining representational and narrative clarity.

Horizon lines frequently appear, partially obscuring figures and objects, enhancing the mystery surrounding seemingly simple moments. His subject matter ranges from everyday moments and mundane activities to surreal scenes drawn from the subconscious.

In his most recent work, Lesouw explores how slice-of-life imagery can coalesce with symbolic and illusory elements. Through recurring shapes and motifs, he creates a visual "rhyme scheme" that reflects how the mind distorts and reinterprets reality. These paintings are grounded in the physical world, yet leave space for the viewer's mind to wander.

His work invites us to observe the familiar through an alternate lens, where meaning drifts between memory, fantasy and the fabrication of one's imagination.