Kyne Nislev Bernstorff is a contemporary figurative artist with specific interest in oil portraits of traditional African cultures and tribes.

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Born in Zimbabwe to Danish parents, Kyne grew up on a farm in the Mazowe Valley. 

 

Kyne’s love of far-flung, rural Africa still seeps into her work - from the bush with its deep, raw colours, its smells of dust and storms and passing animals, its feelings of oppressive heat and freedom to her profound reverence of the very different cultures and customs.

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Kyne lives between Denmark and Africa, writing about and painting the people she meets on these journeys; carefully interacting with respect for the subjects, their traditions and territory. Kyne wishes to portray a different, often unnoticed and even silenced persona, hoping to give voice and colour to the faces and characters of the obscure tribes and societies that the world often overlooks, taking particular interest in the quiet power within the strength of its women.

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Kyne obtained a BA (Hons.) degree in Comparative Literature from the American University of Paris, France; MA in Creative Writing from the University of Cape Town, South Africa; Diplomas in Fine Arts from Repin, Imperial Academy of Arts, St. Petersburg, Russia and the Academy of Classical Art of Saint Petersburg in Florence, Italy.

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Kyne's love of Africa, its vibrant people and the deep, contrasting colours of the bush are what inspire her paintings. She has had several group and solo exhibitions in Cape Town and Copenhagen.