Visual artist based in Paarl, South Africa | b.1984

After completing his BA in Information Design from the University of Pretoria in 2007, Jean moved to Cape Town to pursue a career in illustration, working at the renowned studio Am I Collective. In 2012, he transitioned to freelancing, seeking the freedom to explore his fine art and subcultural interests. With a focus on his distinctive clear-line drawing style, he participated in numerous gallery exhibitions, self-published comics and zines, and experimented with printmaking. Notably, in 2014, he was invited as an international guest to the Short Run Comic Festival in Seattle.

In 2019, after incorporating more colour into his work through printmaking, Jean began to take painting more seriously as a medium.This shift has led to a diverse body of work, that ranges from meticulously calculated compositions to loose impressionistic pieces, that creates an almost humorous and antithetical contrast to his previous illustrative approach in both subject and execution. His new work explores themes of presence and familiarity. Capturing them with a certain degree of faithfulness, while the surreal and otherworldly elements find new places to hide.

With a paradoxical perspective.. and always with a slight sense of humour, Jean ultimately strives toward creating dreamlike representations of reality, through playful experimentation with limitation and restraint.