ART | Kayf’s art explores masks, compulsion and chosen captivity

From cartoon characters with human teeth to BDSM imagery and hidden prison tattoos, the self-taught artist speaks to Oliver Roberts about solitude, weirdness and the strange freedom of obsession.

Oliver Roberts

21 JUN 2026, 08:00

1 min read

Between 2pm and 4pm on any given day, you’ll find her pedalling her stationary bike. The room is thick with incense, cannabis and techno music. In front of her, caught in a shaft of sunlight, are five artworks in progress: two canvases, two photo prints, and a mask. Now and then, she leans over to write something in the notebook beside her.

“There’s a thread between all five pieces,” she says. “I start with a mask, and that sets the tone for everything else in the series.”

Mask. The word surfaces often in our conversations. It recurs throughout her work too, sometimes literally, sometimes in suggestion. Even the artist’s name is a mask: Kayf, Zimbabwean slang for ‘fake’.