Kate Gottgens lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. Gottgens graduated from Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town, in 1987. She was the recipient of the Ampersand Fellowship Award and was selected for the Thames & Hudson publication, 100 painters of tomorrow. In 2020, Gottgens presented her critically acclaimed solo exhibition, Skyglow on Mars Black, at SMAC, Cape Town.