Fransie Malherbe Frandsen is a South African–born, British artist, writer, and illustrator based in Geneva, Switzerland. She earned a BA from Stellenbosch University (SA), followed by a qualification in Graphic Design and a postgraduate degree in Art Psychotherapy from the University of the West of England (UWE, UK). She also studied as a guest student at the Danish Design School (Copenhagen, Denmark), and furthered her studies at Central Saint Martins (London, UK).

Fransie’s work has been internationally acclaimed, awarded and exhibited in both solo and group exhibitions worldwide. Most recently, as the winner of the London Women in Art Biennale, she received an Award of Excellence. Her work has also been featured in various publications and was selected for the cover of the World Art Guide 2025.

In addition to her visual practice, Fransie has written and illustrated a series of children’s books.

Fransie’s multidisciplinary practice is rooted in backgrounds in Fine Arts, Graphic Design and Art Psychotherapy, drawing on her exposure to diverse cultures as well as her practice as an art psychotherapist. Fransie’s work is often described as artivism, employing visual language to foster dialogue and introspection.

Through her work, she explores childhood memory and transformation, examining how fragments of the past linger beneath the surface to shape perception, emotion, and behaviour in the present. By translating these internal processes into visual language, she interrogates the human condition, positioning the transition from birth to death as a liminal space in which identity, memory, and existence are continually reconstituted in relation to societal expectations and religious frameworks. In doing so, the boundaries between past and present, reality and recollection are blurred, inviting the viewer to reflect on their own latent narratives.

Working primarily in acrylic and mixed media, Fransie combines the transfer of digitally altered images with traditional acrylic painting techniques. Subjects are often placed in photorealistic surroundings, unsettling the viewer’s spatial awareness and creating a vivid dialogue between fantasy and reality. Despite its collage-like aesthetic, the work contains no paper.