Artist Bio
Ché (Fouché) Hough · Artist, Sailor, Sculptorb. 1971, Cape Town · South African, naturalised Dutch citizen · based Pearly Beach, South Africa
For 139 500 nautical miles spanning twenty-five years, the ocean was my classroom. I learned that you cannot control the weather, but you can learn to read the water. I learned that survival sometimes relies on a collective effort, and that beauty persists even in the most violent turbulence. Cape Cache exists to translate those maritime lessons into physical form. The studio does not just produce sculpture; it produces state-shifting objects. Each piece is designed to alter the resonance of the room it enters—bringing the quiet authority of the deep ocean into the modern interior, offering clarity in chaos, and a reminder of the wisdom that being on the water teaches.
Material Research
From the Deck& Engine Room to the Studio
The studio’s material vocabulary was formed at sea. More than two decades of vessel maintenance and marine engineering produced an intimate, structural knowledge of patinas, oxidation, resin, fibreglass, rope, and metal. These are the materials that survive the ocean; the studio now employs them to remember it.
Hand-lamination, composite repair, welding, and patina by hand — techniques forged under extreme conditions now govern a process of testing, curing, and finishing that produces sculptural objects built to last generations. The sailor’s discipline — an exacting standard of finish — is applied to every surface that leaves the atelier.
Curriculum Vitae
The EvidenceWhat follows is the institutional record—the places, the vessels, the years. It documents where the lessons came from: the museums that trained the taxonomic gaze, the oceans that taught resilience, the materials that survived the harshest conditions on earth. This is the foundation that every piece in the collection is built on.
Early Years
Childhood
Born in Cape Town; raised in East London (now KuGompo City), growing up reading Robinson Crusoe and surfing and spearfishing South Africa’s East Coast — shark-populated waters renowned for the annual sardine run.
Education
1993
Diploma in Fine Art (Painting, Printmaking & Ceramics), Border Technikon (now Walter Sisulu University), South Africa. Diploma coursework included a six-month part-time internship at the East London Museum — famed for its coelacanth, the “living fossil” fish rediscovered off the South African coast in 1938.
Maritime Career
1994–2019
Dive guide, Red Sea (1994). Deckhand, S/Y Spirit of Victoria (1995–1996). First Mate, then dual Captain | Engineer, on explorer-style yachts and superyachts operating worldwide (1997–2019) — from Antarctica to French Polynesia and the Caribbean and the Bahamas’ shallow waters. Vessels worked included M/Y Lone Ranger (now Sea Ranger; built 1973, Schichau Unterweser AG, Germany), M/Y Coy Koi (built 2000, Kuipers Doggersbank, Netherlands), and M/Y Take 5 and M/Y Maharani (both Nordhavn).
1994–2019
Qualified rescue diver; dived extensively across most of the waters cruised over this period.
2000
Began kitesurfing, since pursued through solo, strapless wave-riding in a range of challenging and remote conditions; he designed specialist foot hooks to improve safety and performance in remote locations, which sparked his interest in material research and sculpture.
Studio Practice
2019
Establishes Cape Cache Sculpture Studio, Western Cape, to investigate ocean taxonomies, movement and laws.
Solo Exhibitions
2025
Salt & Solo, self-presented exhibition, Cape Cache Gallery Rotunda, Pearly Beach.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025
Pigment of Imagination — Dallas Smith Gallery, Plettenberg Bay (Plett Arts Twilight Meander), opening 3 October.
2026
Freedom — Kamers Vol Geskenke, Blaauwklippen, Stellenbosch, art section curated by Noordhoek Art Point. Work sold.
2026
Maker — Stanford, Western Cape. Work sold.
2025
A River Runs Through It — group exhibition, Die Hangkas, Groeneweide Farm, Franskraal, 9–12 October.
2025
Indexical Metrics — Benguela Art Gallery, Western Cape
2025
Cartographic Terrains — Art Point Gallery, Noordhoek
2024–2025
Baardskeerdersbos Art Route — selective, by invitation
2024
Aqua — Art Point Gallery, Noordhoek, group exhibition, 14 May – 23 June.
Public Placements
Current
Work on public display, Dallas Smith Gallery, Plettenberg Bay, since July 2025. Work sold.
2025–26
Work on public display, Baardskeerdersbos Art Gallery, November 2025 – April 2026 (distinct from the Baardskeerdersbos Art Route). Work sold.
2024–25
Work on public display, Benguela Cove Wine Estate & Art Gallery, Walker Bay. Work sold.
2023
Work on public display, The Great White House, Gansbaai. Work sold.
Enquiries
For commissions, representation, press and general enquiries, please visit the Enquiries page.