My work is about the two personalities that I represent, one which is the tomboy, the other which is the ladylike… I put on the tomboy face or look to protect myself because I am a very emotional person, though I may try to hide it. I am the only girl in my family and being the only girl has made me tough and strong and it has made me tomboy because sometimes I try to blend in with my brothers but I still feel lonely and also when I am around other girls. I put on a different look which is the ladylike look to try and fit in and so that I may appear a women because my parents are pastors and they expect me to be this perfect women and guys will end up treating you like a dude which is awkward and I quote “amongst the odd normal but weird” like I said in my poem it is normal but also weird in the sense that many will end up concluding that i am homosexual… My revolution will be to be looked upon the same way you would look at a girl walking down the street whether I am tomboy or not, whether I am homosexual or not, whichever personality you meet that day you cannot judge me by the way I look on a particular day. As an artist self expression is the most important thing and that is what I want people to understand.
A female artist aged 22 born on the 7TH of July in 1995, grew up in Murehwa and did her primary level at St Johns Chikwaka Primary from 2002 to 2005 then transferred to Prospect Primary in 2006 up to 2008. For high school Shalom Kufakwatenzi went to Mabelreign high school from 2009 up to 2012.
I, Shalom Kufakwatenzi, have always had a passion for art since I was young. My mother made clothes for us when we were young and that is how I developed my love for fashion. I did fashion and fabrics in high school and in mind had already concluded that I was going to be a fashion designer.
Due to low grades I did not manage to do my A level instead I repeated my O level at Cornelius Hope Academy Secondary School and Morgan Zintake Teachers College. Whilst I was rewriting in 2014 I discovered Saturday art classes at the National Art Gallery. After I finished my Saturday art classes I then applied to the School of Visual Arts at the National Gallery.
When I applied I wanted to study fashion but I decided to study art as a stepping stone to do fashion. During the time I was at NGSVAD I got to fall in love with art such that I decided to do art full time. During my last year at NGSVAD I majored with sculpture which is my main practise even now. As I did soft sculpture it made me realise that fashion and art do work hand in hand.
In my work I use hessian fabric, java and canvas material and these have allowed me to pursue my dream to work with fashion. Photography is also my other practise and it has opened my eyes in terms of creativity and aesthetic value.
I am currently working at Chinembire arts and crafts studio in Mbare, doing soft sculpture collaborating with other artists, performance art and a project about illegal abortion and the effects it has on the girl child that my friends and I are also working on.
