Purposeful art

It all fell into place after she witnessed a resident visual artist who was daring with his work and this motivated Krayzee Sue to venture into body painting. Most refer to her work as exposing women but she is simply trying to get the message of people embracing themselves and self-love, across. Seven years down the line, the cause is still the same and even better, people have accepted body artistry. “It's all about not being restricted and for one to be able to express themselves however they want. It was really not easy to start off but here I still am. This is the real definition of art,” she said. Body painting is a form of body art and unlike tattoos and other forms of body art, body painting is temporary painted onto the human skin. It can last for several hours or many weeks. Krayzee Sue says the criticism was so harsh when she had started off she thought about quitting. Many would argue that her work is soft porn, nonetheless the reason she started kept her going. “Namibians are a very conservative people but I didn't just do it for any erotic purpose, but rather to create breast cancer awareness. Most of the women diagnosed with cancer usually have a mastectomy and these victims tend to feel uncomfortable in their skin because they are stripped of at what makes them feel like a woman. What my artwork says is that this does not make you any less of a woman,” she said. Krayzee Sue does a lot of abstract and floral work on her models to create movement and motion which when interpreted means that even though you have lost body parts to cancer, life does not stand still and there is a bright side of things. Krayzee Sue says she does research to keep up with trends and she incorporates her style into it. Today she gets clients but mostly she does her body painting for creating awareness. “I always try to replicate what I do especially when a client asks for specific art because that is plagiarism just to copy and paste someone's work. Looking back at when she ventured on this journey Krayzee Sue says the perceptions of Namibians has drastically changed due to social media platforms where they are exposed to all sorts of things. “Social media is a platform not only meant for catching up with old friends but also a tool to keep us in the loop of current affairs. I almost stopped in 2013 when I got criticised for exposing women but I decided I won't let one person stop me,” she said. She says there are other artists slowly emerging who use body painting not only for awareness but for maternity photo shoots or themed parties. Although common in women, breast cancer is also on the rise in men and for diversity Krayzee Sue uses both male and female artists. “I believe using male models says that even though they are male, they are still part of the movement and are behind us and support us,” she said. Krayzee Sue says she is positive about the future of Namibian body art. She will be having a glow in the dark exhibition next year which is something to look forward to. She will be doing a tribalism canvas painting during the Social Splash event which is the about the community coming together to tackling social issues through arts.June Shimuoshili

Purposeful art

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-07

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Purposeful art

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-07

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