Kunyanda was born in a small town in Angola bordering Namibia in 1964. She helped her parents with field work, and her grandmother taught her the traditional ways of pearl embroidery, basket weaving and folklore. She fled the war in Angola to Omega, in Namibia, with her brother. He was later killed. There she worked in a casino as a waitress. She is divorced and has four children. In 1990 she came to Schmidtsdrift in South Africa, and joined the Art Project in 1996. She is the only member of the Project who is Khwe. 

Her preferred motifs are insects and fabled creatures, which she paints meticulously. Also noteworthy are her etchings. She is involved with the organization of the Project, and understands the technicalities involved with the printing of linoleum prints. 

​

Memory and Magic: Contemporary Art of the !Xun & Khwe Hella Rabbethge-Schiller