Stanley was born in 1977 at Nyadire Mission in Murehwa and began carving after secondary school with artist Sam Mabeu. He sees Mabeu as one of his greatest teachers because he helped Stan cultivate his own artistic voice. Subsequently Stanley worked with Charles Nembaware at Svikiro Sculpture Park. He opened his home workshop in 1999, after his father's final words encouraged him to never fear pursuing his own dreams, even when the risks are great. In art, there are great risks.

In 2020, Stanly won the National Arts Merit Award (NAMA) in 3D Art, which is Zimbabwe’s highest annual honor for a sculptor. This is a hugely significant accomplishment, especially considering Zimbabwe is probably the world’s largest stone carving industry when measured by percentage of stone sculptors in the population.

The winning piece was an homage to an important female ancestor of his lineage–the mother of his grandfather. “If you count the family lines, there are seven lineages representing the generations which came from her.” weMbizi’s is himself a father of four daughters. His new work continues to explore women’s central role in what initially appear to be patrilineal systems.

2023 was Stanley’s first international excursion. He was in residence at Gunguo for nearly three months. During this time he taught sculpting workshops and gave demonstrations of the art to gallery visitors. During his time in Canada he created several new sculptures and exhibited a substantial collection of his own work.

Stanley will be at Gunguo for the second time in 2025. You can book one of his stone carving workshops here.