In Conversation With Whoopi Tandi

Whoopi Tandi is a Special Effects and Editorial Make-Up Artist who specializes in sfx makeup, conceptual art and artistic/editorial makeup. What all that means is that she makes art for weirdos and freaks and turns people into weirdos and freaks. No, seriously, I dare you to check out her page @whoopi_tandi and if you keep the shivers from running down your spine, comment below. She is also the founder of Sfx Galore, a beauty, cosmetic and personal care brand specializing in original Sfx products.

I had the privilege of catching up with her over cocktails and this is how it went.

So, how did you know you had the talent for it? Like yes, there’s that point in every girl’s life where they get really good at doing make up, but what made you take that step further into the stunning and the scary and the bizarre?

… I don’t think there was a specific point where ati, I knew exactly that this is it and this is what I’m going to do. It just happened. Things just happened. Just life, you know? Like I transitioned from doing it in my bedroom, to photographers hitting me up to do shoots and slowly I progressed to being asked by editors about how they wanted to feature me in the newspaper. So, it wasn’t really something planned, it’s something that just happened to me. Because it started merely as something to pass the time, a hobby, cause especially it was right after form four when we were waiting to get into Uni and you have like a whole year period where you have so much time on your hands and so I just started experimenting and that experimentation led to all that it is now. Basically.

Where do you draw inspiration from? What do you see that makes you feel, “I want to do that, I NEED to do that,”

Um, so I draw inspiration from a couple of places. So it’s either from the books I watch or the books I read, cause I really like reading fictional stuff. Also from other make up artists. Both local and international. So yeah, either the things I watch, the books I read or from fellow artists.

Give me like one example; like what book or what show or what artist really helped get you through a block, or something?

Okay! So, for example like, uh, there was this series… Stranger Things! Do you know like the creature in the show-

The Demogorgon

Yeah, exactly! Now that type of sfx, like I’ll see it and I’ll want to re-create that head, with all the tentacles. So, I’ll sit down and get really curious and start getting different materials and try to replicate that look and I’ll keep at it until I got it down. So… yeah.

(sfx stands for special effects)

Excellent. Do you think you try to make your art more maximalist or more minimalist? Does this align with your personality?

I feel like my art is more maximalist, definitely. I like very grand things. I think it’s part of my personality as well. I might come off at first glance as timid but like deep down, I like grand things, grand gestures. This extends even past my art and just generally in my day-to-day life. I like spectacle. So, I tend to go for that wow-factor. So yeah, definitely maximalist.

What does scary mean to you?

…

Bad, very general question but this is for me. I need to know.

Well… scary is something that’s just gonna throw you off. It’s not just your ordinary type of thing. It’s not the first thing that’s going to come to your mind. It doesn’t have to be horrific, but it’s just not going to be ordinary. Just like fear is. It’s can either be weird or unusual or basically not your typical day.

What’s your process for picking a muse? Are there some people more capable of making a look more unusual or interesting than it was in your head or is everyone just a canvas for you to bring life to?

That’s a good question. Um, well, getting a muse for my type of art is really hard because not very many people are open to having, for example, their eye covered and having partial vision for a day or having blood dripping from their face (not real blood, of course haha). Not many people are comfortable with looking scary or feeling scary or just being scary. Not many people are comfortable with that, and that’s something I have to consider when I’m doing the work. Cause once you’re comfortable, you’ll be able to bring out the look effectively. Cause if you’re not comfortable, you’re gonna look a bit unsure and it’s going to affect the whole outlook I had for this look.

So… yeah, I feel like that’s the number one thing. So, I can’t just approach anyone with all this. But when people approach me that’s fine, I think that’s even better cause if you’re approaching me that means you’re comfortable with the type of art that I’m doing. Now on the opposite end of the people who are scared, kuna wasee wenye wako so curious and they want to try it out and go out of their own way to help with outfits and everything to just try and elevate the look to a different level. For example, I was to work with Anita Nderu, but we never really got to that point of working together because she’s always travelling and has a very busy schedule with her tours and everything so we kept on postponing and postponing and someone like me doesn’t like leaving things pending. So we agreed to just wait, and once we’re both ready, we’d get to work. So, for me, that was like the one who got away cause I’d really like to work with her and then from there I’d see who’s next.

How would you compare the experience of working on yourself with working on other people? Which one easier, which one is more smooth etc.

I find it way, way easier working on myself. Because with myself, I won’t hold back. With other people I’m so worried. What if I hurt them? What will they think? Will they be comfortable? There’s so many considerations and I will tend to think and overthink them when I’m working on another person. But when it’s just me, I know my limits, I know how far I can stretch myself, I know — …I’m free. Let me just say that. There’s a lot more freedom when it’s just me. I can ‘injure’ myself as much as I can, I can make it as gory and as horrific as possible. So for me, it’s definitely easier working with myself on myself.

Interesting. So now I’m curious, what gave you this curiosity into the gory and the bizarre and the macabre? Was there a specific event or did you just slide into it?

Uh… I don’t think there was a specific event or period that led to it really. Personally, I didn’t even know that I had such an interest or such a talent at this kind of thing. Plus I really can’t say that kitambo I used to watch horror or anything of the sort. I guess I was just in a period of idleness, I guess, and that period of idleness caused me to experiment. I just had too much time on my hands and YouTube was there for me and so things just fell into place organically.

Even more curious, are there… Like I think it takes a long time to do the whole thing from start to finish so during the process, are there any songs that you like playing in the background? Is there any artist you particularly like during, or do you just prefer silence in your work?

Uh… Hmm, I’ll either listen to music or just random stuff on YouTube, just to hear people talking. Cause my looks tend to take like six hours plus, so it gets a little bit… weird when I’m doing it alone in silence. Like it doesn’t have to be something specific, just let other people talk, something completely random on YouTube —

What’s the last thing you remember putting?

…

…

That’s a good question cause when was the last time I created.

Both burst out laughing.

It’s been a bit of a dry period for me, but the last thing I remember putting in the background was Reality Talk Review; it’s usually something of that sort cause napenda udaku tu. Just people talking a lot. I don’t necessarily have to follow what they’re saying. Just something in the background.

And as we wrap up, what are you most excited to do next? What’s cooking 2024, what are you looking forward to this year? This Halloween? What are you looking to?

I’m looking forward to growing my craft. Like on a serious level. I’d like to be able to consistently monetize it. And so in order to do that, I feel like I need to get into a school to do that. And that’s only possible if I can get out of this country. So, I’m planning to probably go abroad, study it, do a short course on it, I think for sfx they usually take 6–8 months at most. So yeah, I’d just want to gain like, expertise yeah?

Whatever I know so far is just what I’ve been able to teach myself. So, I want to learn it properly and I also want to be exposed to a different audience, a different market, especially a market that appreciates my art. Cause I feel like if I stay here in Kenya, it’s just not going to get that appreciation. And don’t get me wrong, my audience does appreciate my art, I just need the market to do so as well so that I can get to the level of monetizing this or growing in scale or making a living out of it.

Okay, excellent. Personally, I’m a huge fan, and I can’t wait to see the levelling up. With shows like The Last of Us coming out which rely so much on sfx and the work you do, I really do see the vision. So, as a last question, what do you think would need to change in Kenya to make you want to stay? What would really work for you here?

Um, I feel like the Kenyan film industry is very stagnant. We tend to recycle the same actors, the same producers, the same people tu; it’s just that the film landscape is only secluded to a number of people. So, it’s sort of like gatekeeping and when that happens, a lot of new, fresh, other talent is excluded and left in the cold. So you tend to have people who were acting in 2007, when I was in class 1, still acting right now, and that deprives other people from getting opportunities. So that pushes people to feel like the only place they can go is away, abroad, because there’s just nothing for me here. It’s all just for other people. In order for me to feel like this is a good environment for me to grow with my skill and my craft, there needs to be that sense of changeover.

Oh wow. That was really good. Thank you so much, it was such a pleasure.