Kate Gottgens (b.1965) bridge from vibrant figuration to a deeper level of abstraction. Gottgens currently lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. She was selected in 2019 for the prestigious Thames & Hudson publication, 100 Painters of Tomorrow. Inspired by David Hockney’s scenes and Frank Bowling’s aesthetic, the landscapes and scenes she depicts are interplaying with water. The Last Resort plunges us into an ideal and modern landscape, and yet how distressing. On the contrary, The Shrilling of Cicadas reflects the state of nature, undisturbed by humans and idealized. Gottgens manages to immerse us in an atmosphere: a watery air, the song of the cicadas, a motionless lake choked by the surrounding foliage.