Lerato Nkosi (b. 1993, Mpumalanga, South Africa; lives and works in Johannesburg). Drawing from her experiences as a young girl growing up in a sheltered world that was created for her by her predecessors, Lerato Nkosi has developed a practice that examines the intricacies of the complex interplay of reflection as a powerful emblem of the unconscious mind. How reflection transforms into a vessel that objectively reflects an individual, connecting the two distinctive egos: the conscious ego on the outside and the unconscious ego within.

Nkosi is fascinated by how the conscious and unconscious dynamics affect a woman's perspective of herself and her identity. Nkosi uses metaphorically charged material such as ink and stamps which she uses to create grisaille textures and images. For Nkosi, the materials emerge as conscious, organic elements - powerful change agents that taint and authenticate every surface they come into contact with. Ink and stamps make a permanent impression on any surface they come in contact with. Nkosi sees the teachings of parents imprinted on the child, to be like ink and stamps leaving an indelible mark, forever shaping their sense of self. 

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Nkosi received a Diploma at the Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa in 2014. A solo exhibition of her work was organized at Gallery One, Keyes Art Mile, Rosebank, South Africa (2024). Recent Art Fair exhibitions featuring her work include the EXPO Chicago, Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois (2025), RMB Latitudes Art Fair, Shepstone Gardens, South Africa (2023), Turbine Art Fair, Rosebank, South Africa (2022). Recent group exhibitions featuring her work include Forewomen, Gallery MOMO, Parkwood, Johannesburg, South Africa (2024), Salon Collectables, Art and About Gallery, Sandton, South Africa (2022), Reshape, Latitudes online (2022), Sasol New Signatures, Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, South Africa (2022), Sempiternal Summer, Lizamore and Associates, Johannesburg, South Africa (2021), RMB Talent Unlocked, Everard Read Circa Gallery, Rosebank, South Africa (2021), The feminine is political, Fierce Pop, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2017), WOMXN, Molo Songololo, Cape Town, South Africa (2017), AVA Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa (2016). 

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Nkosi has received several prestigious awards including the Inaugural ANNA Award, RMB Talent Unlocked, and a finalist for the Sasol New Signatures.