Introduction
From childhood sketches inspired by comics and his older brothers to becoming an award-winning contemporary Nigerian visual artist, Kaynan Kayphas has built a career defined by purpose, storytelling, and cultural preservation. Through richly symbolic paintings, he explores themes of African identity, spirituality, mythology, and history, inviting viewers to see the past as a bridge to the future. In this conversation, Kaynan reflects on his artistic journey, creative process, inspirations, personal milestones, and the vision that continues to shape his work and legacy.
Artist Bio
Kaynan Kayphas is a Nigerian visual artist based in Abuja. He was born on 11 June 1997 in Kwara State and hails from Kogi State, Nigeria. His artistic journey began professionally as a painter in 2020 where he first began using oil paint, and since then he has taken part in several exhibitions and featured in magazines and newspapers both locally and internationally.
His exhibition history includes the Roadless Travel Exhibition, Art and Human Rights Exhibition in Montreal, Holy Art Fair in London, and shows at Moeshen Gallery, among others.
His work has also been featured in publications such as Forest Magazine (London), A Place for the People, and Punch Newspaper, including coverage on the theme “Translating Art into a Common Language.” and in March 2026, he had his first solo maiden exhibition at the Moeshen Art gallery Abuja Nigeria.
In 2024, Kaynan gained wider recognition after emerging as one of the award-winning artists at the 19th edition of the Embassy of Spain Art Competition in Nigeria. His winning piece highlighted his ability to blend cultural narratives through visual storytelling.
Kaynan’s work is rooted in painting and focuses on figures, portraiture, nature, and symbolic elements. He draws inspiration from history, the natural world, and ancient religious texts. His distinct approach has attracted the attention of collectors and galleries, leading to his first art auction in London in 2022.
He is a third-generation member of the Elbow Room Art Movement, founded on 1 October 2016 in Abuja. The collective brings together artists with diverse styles and techniques and has played an important role in his development. Kaynan currently serves as the President of the Art Movement.
Question and Answer with Kaynan Kephas
Q. How did your artistic journey begin? What factors influenced your decision to pursue art?
A. My artistic journey began in Kwara State during my childhood. My two elder brothers, Elijah and Israel, were both talented at drawing, and watching them create comics and tell stories deeply inspired me. At the time, I had not yet started school, so I spent a lot of time at home sketching, doodling, and inventing my own characters and stories, much like a typical Nigerian barracks child fascinated by actor and boss (heroes and villains).
I remember eagerly showing my drawings to my brothers, hoping they would be amazed, but they often laughed at my early attempts. Interestingly, those moments motivated me to improve. As I grew older, my brother Elijah and I began competing in freehand sketching with ballpoint pens, which greatly sharpened my drawing skills.
In 2017, I moved to Abuja to study under the mentorship of Olorunyemi Kolapo. I started as a pencil artist in 2018, explored ballpoint pen work in 2019, and in December 2020 I painted my first oil portrait, which marked the beginning of my professional painting practice. The deeper reason I chose art is that I realized some truths cannot be fully expressed through words alone. Art became my language for communicating history, identity, spirituality, and the untold stories of Africa. My childhood love for comics and Japanese manga eventually evolved into a practice centered on creating original characters that preserve and reimagine African history.
Q. Do you have any specific techniques or rituals that help you get into creativity?
A. Music is a major part of my creative process, especially music with strong bass. Before I begin painting, I usually sit quietly and gaze at the canvas after the sketch is complete. As the music plays, I try to connect emotionally with the work. During that moment, I begin to see what I call “paths” across the painting, areas that guide me on where to start and how to navigate the composition. Once I enter that flow, I often work for long hours without stopping until I have explored those paths.
Q. Are there any specific themes or subjects that you tend to gravitate towards?
A. I am naturally drawn to themes of African identity, spirituality, mythology, memory, and the relationship between the past and the future. I was initially preparing a series called Negro-Mancy, combining “Negro” and “Mancy” to explore prophecy, ancestry, and the future of Black identity. However, I felt the series required a level of maturity and depth that I was not yet ready to fully express. Recently, I felt a strong creative urgency to begin another body of work called Pathfinder. The idea came repeatedly through dreams and persistent thoughts, and it explores those who create paths for their people and those who restore forgotten paths. It has become the central focus of my current practice.
Title: The Pathfinder: Restorers Of Paths
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https://tribbbal.com/post/127857_the-pathfinder-restorers-of-paths.html
Q. Which of your paintings challenged you the most, and why?
A. The most challenging painting I have created is Storm Sovereign, my depiction of Ṣàngó from my solo exhibition African in Renaissance. Technically, it was the most demanding piece in the exhibition. Even after signing it, I kept returning to the canvas because something still felt unresolved.
I had completed my research and chosen the right color palette, yet the painting did not feel complete to me. I eventually stepped away from it for a while and worked on other pieces. When I returned, I was able to see what the work needed.
The experience taught me an important spiritual lesson. As I examined my painting, searching for what needed refinement before presenting it to the world, I began to reflect on how God might also be shaping me, refining my character before revealing my full potential. That realization made the painting both technically challenging and deeply transformative.
Title: Storm Sovereign
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https://tribbbal.com/post/127882_storm-sovereign.html
Q. Every painting tells a story. Which of yours is the most personal?
A. The most personal painting for me is Solitary (2022), although I have since archived it. The work captured my “wilderness” season - a period of isolation, discipline, and growth while I was intensely developing my skills.
The painting reflects the idea that some of the most important transformations happen away from public recognition. It represented my journey of becoming, where capacity was being built long before the results were visible. Looking back now, I can see that many of the opportunities and achievements I have today were rooted in that quiet period of preparation.
Title: Isolation 1
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https://tribbbal.com/post/127883_isolation-1.html
Q. Outside the studio, what inspires you the most?
A. Outside the studio, my greatest source of inspiration is spiritual literature, especially Scripture. It is one of the foundations of my creative process and the way I engage with my work.
I am also heavily inspired by anime and manga, which shaped my love for character creation and visual storytelling. African mythology provides another major source of inspiration because it connects me to ancestral narratives and cultural memory.
In addition, I enjoy football and video games, and I once dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. Recently, I have become increasingly interested in archaeology and anthropology documentaries because they help me understand how civilizations, identities, and belief systems evolve over time.
Q. What experiences or influences have shaped your unique artistic voice?
A. My artistic voice has been shaped by a desire to reclaim and reinterpret African history. Growing up, I often encountered narratives that presented African achievement as secondary to other civilizations. That perception changed dramatically when I discovered the story of Yasuke, the African who became a samurai in Japan despite not being born into Japanese nobility.
His story opened my eyes to the fact that Africans have participated in, influenced, and sometimes led significant moments in world history beyond the African continent. I began researching other overlooked historical figures and realized that many of these stories are rarely taught in our schools. This discovery became a turning point in my practice. It inspired me to create works that place African figures within their historical contexts and restore a sense of dignity, complexity, and global presence to African narratives.
Q. If one of your paintings could speak for 30 seconds, which one would you choose—and what would it say?
A. I would choose Pathfinder. If it could speak for thirty seconds, it would say: “I was not created merely to walk a road, but to make one. A pathfinder journeys through uncertainty so that future generations may travel with clarity. The true destination is not fame or power, but the hearts of the people and the preservation of their identity, beliefs, culture, and memory. Every path I carve is a bridge between ancestors and posterity.”
Q. What's a story you've always wanted to paint but haven't yet?
A. The story I have always wanted to paint is a series called The True Worshippers. I conceived the idea in 2017 while I was still under the mentorship of Olorunyemi Kolapo, and I still have the original sketches and references. I have not painted it yet because I believe some stories require the right season of life. For me, this body of work is deeply connected to themes of covenant, family, devotion, and spiritual maturity. I often say, half-jokingly, that it may emerge after I get married because I feel it is a story that should be created from a place of greater life experience rather than mere artistic excitement.
Q. What's one legacy you want your art to leave behind?
A. A philosophy that guides my practice is “The past is the bridge between the present and the future.” I believe that the knowledge of our past helps us understand who we are and where we are going.
The legacy I want my art to leave is that of a bridge, a visual language that connects people to their history while inspiring their future. I want my work to be remembered not only for its style, but for the stories it preserved and the conversations it opened.
I hope the concept of my paintings eventually expand into film, animation, and fashion, allowing these narratives to reach wider audiences. Above all, I want to be remembered as an African storyteller who demonstrated that a people could evolve and engage with the future without losing their identity.
Conclusion
Kaynan Kayphas' journey is a testament to the transformative power of art as both a creative practice and a means of preserving culture. His paintings go beyond aesthetics, encouraging meaningful conversations about identity, memory, spirituality, and the untold stories of Africa. As his work continues to evolve across exhibitions, publications, and new creative mediums, he remains committed to inspiring future generations through visual storytelling. With every piece, Kaynan reinforces his belief that understanding the past is essential to shaping a more confident and culturally grounded future.
To learn more about Kaynan Kayphas, please visit his profile:
https://tribbbal.com/Kaynan1997
