Lauren Palte was born in 1982 and is a Cape Town based painter, teacher and Community Arts facilitator. She completed her undergraduate degree (2005) and her Masters in Fine Art Degree (2011) at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, UCT. Palte was selected as one of the 40 finalists for the SPI National Portrait Award in 2013. Her most recent work uses copper plate as an oil painting substrate. Its smooth surface allows the paint to be worked while very fluid, opening up plays with erasure and transparency.