Stephanie “Kenyaa” Mzee is a 24-year-old artist, writer and film critic. In 2018, she was named one of Design Indaba’s forty Emerging South African Creatives, and represented South Africa earlier this year at the Art Connects Women International Exhibition in Dubai. Kenyaa speaks to Sarah Hoek about her art, work and experiences and reflects on entering into a new era.
Kenyaa is a South African artist, filmmaker, writer, photographer, and now, film critic. PHOTO: Sarah Hoek
It’s a new era for Kenyaa. Just months ago in March, the Capetonian writer, filmmaker, photographer and artist was representing South Africa at the Art Connects Women (ACW) International Exhibition in Dubai. Today, in November, she is rethinking her work and is changing course into the world of film and art critique.
In 2018, Kenyaa was nominated as a Southern African Development Community (SADC) Top 100 Trailblazer by The Young Independents and was named one of Design Indaba’s 40 Emerging South African Creatives. This was after her photo series Comply caught the public’s attention.
“It catapulted a lot of stuff for me,” she says, explaining how surprised she was with the series’ popularity. “My end goal was obviously that it picks up so that I can start conversations. It started more conversations than I ever thought it could.”
In creating “Comply”, Kenyaa began by doing research into the lives of black slave women in America.
“I realised that it was actually quite intense. What dark-skinned black women go through is very different from what light-skinned black women go through. I wanted to see how dark-skinned women were treated. And then I paralleled some of it to how domestic workers are treated now in South Africa,” she explains.
PHOTO: Sarah Hoek
Walking in her power
As she has gained popularity in the South African art world, Kenyaa admits that she has had to actively work on her own confidence and belief in herself as an artist and has had to fight against feelings of self-doubt.
“I had a lot of feelings of imposter syndrome that I had to get over,” she says, recalling how she previously never understood what the term meant. “But I finally understood that when I started doing this work, especially as the brands that I have collaborated with are really high-end people.”
“I’m walking in the power that I’ve been given in my talent and my passion,” she affirms.
One of Kenyaa’s many tattoos, this one symbolising self-love. “I’m aligning into the next phase of my life, and with that alignment comes different ways that I’d like to portray myself,” Kenyaa says. PHOTO: Sarah Hoek
Kenyaa’s experience at the ACW exhibition in Dubai was one such example. Instead of having self-doubt, however, she says the trip was a reaffirming experience.
“It cemented the fact that I’m not faking it. Thoughts come into my head like, ‘why do you even think you’re so important?’ and ‘why does your voice matter?’ but when I went to Dubai people were so ready to listen to what I had to say,” she remembers.
At the ACW exhibition, Kenyaa recalls how she felt seeing her art exhibited alongside pieces from one hundred women from across the world.
“Art can bring people together,” she says.
“Kenyaa’s work [is] immaculate. Her work is very much alive and brings forth conversation, you can almost sense power radiating as you stare into the artwork.”
Vicky Sheelongo
With Kenyaa was Vicky Sheelongo, a friend and fellow artist who represented Namibia at the ACW exhibition.
“It was two weeks of having people from all across the globe engage with our artwork on a daily basis,” Sheelongo says. “I was proud to see both our artworks hanging in the midst of other incredible ones.”
“The level of quality of the work [Kenyaa] produces will become historic. Her mind is constantly working, it is thrilling,” says Vicky Sheelongo about her friend and fellow artist. PHOTO: Sarah Hoek
Around eleven artists applied to represent South Africa at the exhibition this year, says Zaahirah Muthy, curator and founder of ACW. However, Kenyaa’s art impressed the panel who selected the work, and her feature also garnered public attention in the United Arab Emirates, she says.
“Her approach is authentic and brings a strong message of advocacy towards discrimination and at the same time empowerment,” Muthy says.
Art isn’t about likes
Despite her growing acclaim, Kenyaa is moving away from content creation and into the next chapter of her “creative walk”.
“I don’t want to focus on content anymore. Content is mass-produced work, whatever entertains people,” she says. “I’m not here to entertain people.”
“Each series that I’ll do has about six months of work alone. So six months of research and then the time in post-production,” says Kenyaa, describing her process of making art. PHOTO: Sarah Hoek
With the rise of social media, Kenyaa also feels that she wants her work to go further than what people scroll through on their phones.
“It’s not just for a like on Instagram, it needs to penetrate further than that.”
“There’s a lot of content on social media platforms. It just becomes a liking thing. And that’s not what my work is for. It’s not just for a like on Instagram, it needs to penetrate further than that,” she explains. “You can get sucked into focusing on likes a lot as a creative, and then you lose your path.”
Growing into Kenyaa
Working to establish a name for herself in the industry, Kenyaa is moving away from being an emerging creative and into a known authority as a film critic.
This may seem like a drastic change, but her studies in television and film at City Varsity, as well as her own filmmaking and creative background, have prepared her for the shift.
“I found Kenyaa to be masterful in expressing herself,” says Melany Fuma, one of Kenyaa’s previous mentors and lecturers at City Varsity. “Her work is a beautiful expression, it’s unadorned and a delicate corroboration of her undeniable talent.”
“I’m restructuring myself and rebranding. I’m changing my posture in the film world and in the creative world in general. I think the most important thing right now that I’m doing is that I’m moving into a new era,” explains Kenyaa. PHOTO: Sarah Hoek
After years of producing art and working within the industry, Kenyaa says she feels ready to call herself a professional in the field.
“Visual arts criticism is not that easy, because it takes guts to go against people,” she says. “So I think I’m ready to hold my ground, I know what I’m talking about.”
Call me Kenyaa
Although she was named “Stephanie” at birth, the artist decided that “Kenyaa” embodied who she is as an African and a woman of Kenyan descent.
“Call me ‘Kenyaa'”
“I wasn’t fond of my Kenyan heritage [growing up] so I used to hide it,” she says. “I noticed that people respected me more because of my English name, which I didn’t like. People would be like, ‘Oh, thank God, your name isn’t like some long-ass name.’ ‘Kenyaa’ just came at the right time.”
Born “Stephanie” to Kenyan parents, the artist chose to go by “Kenyaa” instead. “It’s to pay homage to my heritage,” she says. PHOTO: Sarah Hoek
Despite all the change in her life, she is still Kenyaa; and her name challenges her to embrace her full self.
“I woke up one day and I was like, ‘you know what? I’m going to call myself Kenyaa.’ My name helped me build where I am right now and helped me angle myself as an artist.”
As she grows older, “Kenyaa” is growing as an artist too.
“This is the more adult Kenyaa. Kenyaa before was a very juvenile version of who I am now. I have learned a lot, I was very timid and shy,” she says. “I’m excited more than anything. I’m excited to actually talk about film, it’s not just rambles anymore, it’s my work. And we’ll see where it takes me.”
Who is Kenyaa today? VIDEO: Sarah Hoek