Xenson (Samson Ssenkaaba) is a multi-media artist who interrogates contemporary issues through a synergy of; installations, videos, poetry, fashion and paintings. His latest body of hybrid works tilted Canerica (2012 – present) form a virtual eco-world that explores the consumerist tendencies and power hierarchies that are present in contemporary society. His installation Nfunkira Cankyayi (2013) depicts a metamorph, a hybrid human of the future, pouring cans out of a teapot to create a factory. The work is a metaphor and play on words of the expression ‘pour me some tea?’ which is used by corrupt officials to ask for money.

Xenson also creates more consumable mixed-media paintings, Xencan (2013 – present), that plays on pop-culture. The series of works made of repetitive soda cans depict cute African cartoons adorning kitenge fabrics, traditional tunics and masks that have all become symbols of identity in the African upper classes even if they did not originate from Africa. A phenomenon that he calls ‘Obscured Identities’.

Xenson works with used soda cans in an attempt to clean up his environment and avoid the dystopian futures he portrays through his works. He also uses environmentally sustainable materials like barkcloth, reeds, raffia, and banana fibre in his fashion installations.