interview: kenzy is #noyz134, illustrator
We were so impressed by the cover artwork for Dae Kimâs GUMBALL Radio Mixthis month that we had to find out more about the artist Zhou Jian Wei akaKenzy.is.NOYZ. The intricacy of his lines and subject matters plus his sense of humour and surrealism definitely caught our attention. We predict big things for this Malaysian artist. Now letâs find out more about Kenzy, who is also currently responsible for the Mutha Puaka visuals.
Articles shared: GumballMag
What does Kenzy.is.NOYZ mean? Kenzy is a nickname that my college buddies gave me because they couldnât pronounce my Chinese name properly. And NOYZ is a tag name I came out with when I started with graffiti back when I was with Drewfunk which is currently based in Australia with SOE. From there, we formed a non-functional crew called Sonique Death Monkeys | SDM. We have gone out to tag electrical boxes and hit walls â sometimes we will end up buffing up the whole container on a lorry. There was a big ass Thundercats stencil cut by SOE which was sprayed all over Klangâs electrical boxes. The tag name NOYZ was picked up from a hip-hop magazine advertisement. It was a rapperâs puppet holding a sign saying âMake Sum Muthafucking Noyz!!!â I was drawn to that word from the moment I saw it and took it to the paper with a pen to flex the tag style so that I am able to tag it fast.
What are your earliest memories as an artist? Not much of a memory, but feeling of not knowing what will happen tomorrow if I wasnât drawing today. That is why I am still drawing everyday with or without any idea. Just have to get that visual side out of me to get rid of the hyperactive side in me.
How did you come to a decision that you want to do this for a living? Thanks to tele-banking, I realised that I am not suited to work like a zombie in a cube, talk to people who are far away, helping them to make bill payments, transferring funds and purchasing stocks over the phone. I will always end up drawing on everyoneâs whiteboard with my non-permanent black marker pen. I even remember drawing a banana stuck to a donut. I thought to myself, what if I no longer have any chemistry with my current job and what will I be doing? My passion for art took off from there and I never looked back. Come to think of it, it has been good solid four years of coming out from the system.
Do you remember some of your earliest projects as an artist? Yes I do, it was a friend restaurant called The Giraffe in Klang. He ordered a bunch of wooden carved giraffe tiki and commissioned Mono Evolve, a collective I formed with my other half Tehmojo was assigned to customise it. We took one week to complete the whole painting on the giraffes. Cannot forget about painting for MC Yogi Bâs Manthrahood album launch at the KLPac hall. That is one of the biggest painting I have ever done and it was mad fun to be playing jigsaw puzzle with the canvases as I paint on them.
How would you say your style has progressed over the years? My style has evolved from being very stiff to a more softer and organic flow. From not giving two flying fucks to the society back then, and now minding my words because what is let out usually comes double hitting us back on that self built bubble.
Proudest achievement or work as an artist so far? Working on a GAP video with Tehmojo and KANGBLABLA. I was also featured on a few rap song with Balan Kashmir, Double Call, MCBGCW. Yes, I rap too and I do it in Hokkien and Bahasa Baku Peranakan.
How do you stay inspired? Listening, observing, living life like how it should be, take some time to talk to your loved ones and stay in touch with your friends because who are you without the people that surrounds you. I am inspired by a movement called âMoments of Truthâ or better known for exploring the depths of the creative process while encouraging cross-breeding of ideas across mediums, cultures, galaxies and spectrums on a daily basis as an individual. Yes you may have figured it out by now that it is a cult. Check out the ever-evolving and crazy fresh movement on projectmot.com.
What are your thoughts on the current art scene in Kuala Lumpur? It is definitely growing everyday. There are so many things to look. Itâs getting interesting when everyone is looking for ways to present art differently and desperately too. It is that time when whatever you say doesnât matter. It is more on what you are doing now.
Who is your favourite local artist and why? Bibichun #cipan because he has got verse on the style and versatility in presenting art to people. He practices a lot of interactive art that involves emotion. Donât forget to check out his upcoming pieces.
If your work had a soundtrack, what song would it be? A boom bap rap track titled âPendatang Halalâ on the legal immigrants. It is about how we can be comfortable with the issue presented to us by the Babylonians as we go through our chores daily as a âfree manâ wherever we are.
What else do you enjoy doing besides art? I like babbling in Bahasa Melayu Baba Peranakan. I like to freestyle and rap alone to improve my delivery and most importantly, to entertain my hyper boring self here.
What do you hope to achieve this year? Draw more each day and share more work on Instagram like a kiasu, get a couple song done and hopefully to push it out to the public. I got to live it up to my ah beng-ness. And most importantly to get a plane ticket out somewhere for a month and get lost.
facebook.com/Kenzy.is.NOYZ instagram.com/noyz134
Photos: KENZY is #NOYZ134
