As a child in colonial Africa, and later after formal study as an adult in the US, Tazim has always expressed herself through her art. Tazim was born in Tanzania, educated in London, and settled in Youngstown, Ohio. After having two children, she received a B.F.A. from Youngstown State University, and a masters degree in visual anthropology from Kent State University.

As a scholar and visual anthropologist, she has been awarded numerous grants to study life cycle rituals and the economic empowerment of women. An avid traveler and explorer, she has studied and visually documented African, East Indian, South Asian and Pacific Island cultures.

Tazim is also actively involved in her community, and has curated several art events for regional and international traveling exhibitions. She has been honored as "Woman of the Year" for her contributions to the arts in Youngstown.

Tazim Jaffer has exhibited her work internationally for the past 25 years. She has won numerous awards in juried exhibitions for her work in multimedia and studio arts.

Artist Statement

Kantha works are continuation of my body of works entitled elements of nature, where i painted on large scale canvasses with inclusions of saris and sadhri (mats) which i sewed in or wove through my paintings.

Walking through the markets in india, i saw the women sitting on the street sewing clothes by hand while selling their wares. they kept their eye not only on the customers, but on their children while doing their fine stitching all the while conversing with the fellow vendors.

I have been drawn to the embroideries and detailed work done by these women, photographing sewa women in lucknow was an insight to the lives of women who did chikan embroideries. my exposure to different environments has nurtured many styles and forms of expression.

In trying to abstact my compositions and to give it texture, i am attracted to fuse or borrow the stitching style from the kantha works of the women from calcutta.