MR CENZ INTERVIEW
““I was always into pushing the art side of graffiti rather than the illegal bombing. I wanted to paint full-colour walls from the beginning and experiment with different skills and techniques.””
Your striking murals celebrate feminine beauty through a distinctive blend of realism, abstraction, and street culture. Female portraiture remains at the heart of your work. What draws you to this subject matter, and what continues to inspire your fascination with the female form?
I have loved portraits for some time so I wanted to try it out myself. I started about 5 years ago and haven’t looked back. I paint only female faces because I find the shapes and features more visually attractive. I like the movement in the curves and lines of the female faces, especially African and Afro-Carribean women who are my favourite to paint.
I understand you received your first mural commission at just eleven years old—an incredible achievement for such a young artist. Can you take us back to those early days and tell us how your journey into graffiti and street art first began?
I was introduced to hip-hop culture and graffiti art when I was around 8 years old and I was I messing around with tags and outlines from then on. When I was 10 years old I was already out tagging the streets locally and getting into trouble. As I was so obsessed my mother got me a wall to paint on the back of a local school. This was my first legal piece.
Like many graffiti writers, you began painting illegally before transitioning into large-scale commissioned murals and public art projects. What motivated that evolution, and how did your artistic goals change along the way?
I was always into pushing the art side of graffiti rather than the illegal bombing. I wanted to paint full-colour walls from the beginning and experiment with different skills and techniques. After getting arrested several times I decided to go to art college and continue progressing with my art on canvas and legal spaces.
Your visual language is instantly recognizable, seamlessly blending photorealism, illustration, abstraction, and traditional graffiti influences. How did this unique style develop, and what does your creative process look like when approaching a new wall or canvas?
Well, it’s a melting pot of all my artistic experiences and influences from over the years. At art college, I looked at lots of other art forms other than graffiti especially abstract expressionists like Paul Klee etc. I always liked to mix styles together but have always kept my primary influence and love of graffiti art. I work in a very spontaneous and instinctive way which allows me to adjust to the wall or space. My starting point is a reference photo which inspires me and the rest just comes when I start painting and breaking down the image in my own unique way.