Candice Myataza was born in 1997 in Cape Town (South Africa) and currently resides here. Her love for story telling led her towards creative studies. She graduated with a Bachelors of Arts degree at the University of Cape Town in 2021 with majors in Film, Anthropology and Sociology.
Her visual art journey began around 2019 during a time of Covid-19, a time when the world declared social distancing. It was during this time that Candice had the opportunity to self-reflect. As a mixed-race individual, the theme of racial belonging, showed to have been the biggest influence in shaping most of how she perceives and experiences life. To put it into context, she had felt excluded in the community and schools she went to in most of her childhood and teenage life as a result of being mixed race - neither accepted by the African nor European community (African mother, European father).
Her paintings, following on the theme of racial belonging, looks at the commonalities we share as a people outside of race and how that changes the relationship we have with one another.
Candice has since sold over 20 paintings and has showcased at galleries – Mullers Gallery, 6 Spin Street Gallery, 91 Loop Street Gallery and Red Gallery of which are all based in Cape Town. Her main mediums are acrylics, oil and mixed media on canvas. Besides her personal experience as mixed race being the driving force of her exploration, she also finds inspiration from literature and daily interactions with the world.
Her painting style frequently portrays human figures that are rendered in different shades of brown, highlighting the underlying unity of the human aspect that we all share despite our many differences. Her unique style brings about a silver lining to the question of racial belonging – that we are all human beings underneath it all. Her work prompts the viewer to reflect on their own sense of identity and how it affects the relationship they have with others
