About

Austen Gordon (b.1987) completed her Btech in Interior Design at Tshwane University of Technology, in Pretoria, and since then has worked as a designer, teacher and marketing manager. In 2023, Austen left her full time position to pursue painting and art full time. She has participated in several group exhibitions in Cape Town and regularly shows her work through independent solo shows.

Austen's work explores illustrative realism, wordplay and principles of aestheticism. She loves to use unusual colour combinations in her works and apply her visuals to a variety of substrates. She is interested in taking a theme or a subject matter, working and re-working it and watching it evolve and change. Currently, she focuses on creating bright blooms nestled in quirky patterned vases. These sit against various backdrops—some plain, some patterned—atop tablecloths adorned with patterns of their own. Drawing on endless references found in nature, she represents the flowers and foliage in a manner that recalls, but does not quite mimic, reality. Her works possess a sense of stillness juxtaposed with a flurry of detail and application of colour. 

EXHIBITIONS

2026
'Glimmers', group exhibition, Rust-en-Vrede Museum, Cape Town

2025
'With friends like these', solo exhibition, Du Toitskloof Wine Estate, Cape Town
'Ides of March', group exhibition, 131A Gallery, Cape Town
'Seventeen', group exhibition, 131A Gallery, Cape Town

2024
'Is it Summer yet?', independent solo show & online catalogue
'Ode to Autumn', group exhibition, 131A Gallery, Cape Town
'End of Summer', independent solo show & online catalogue

2023
'About Nature, independent solo show, hosted at The Ladder, Cape Town

2021
'All eggs are good eggs', independent solo show, hosted at The Ladder, Cape Town