Fatima Tajah Olson is an artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was born and raised in Southern Africa.
Tajah holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Emily Carr Art & Design University and a Diploma in Fashion Design.
Her work is influenced by her African heritage, memories of her childhood and life experiences living in Africa.
She is also inspired by different mythological tales from different tribes as well as the beauty of the female form, structure and faces from tribes around the world.
Her work also explores different locations in British Columbia that she combines with her tribal artwork.
Website – www.Aswesiarts.com
Artist statement
My artwork is about self-empowerment, studying who I am and challenging myself as an artist.
When I paint my canvas, my face. I feel like it is an escape where I am free to explore and become anything that inspires me. I am intrigued and influenced by faces, expressions, tribes, different female forms, textures, and patterns.
In my escape, I feel like no one can judge me or put me in a category, race or assume anything about me. It simply creates conversations, curiosity and questions for my audience.
When I paint my canvas, I am not faced with any negative stereotypes, fascination with my skin color, assumptions, and plain racism that I have faced while living in the western world.
In my escape, I forget that I am that “black girl” that I am usually referred as. In my escape I am Tajah Olson, born in Malawi. I am whatever color I choose to be, I am a queen, a goddess, a warrior, I am white, green, black, I am a spirit, a man, a child, a woman, I am a movement, a pattern, a texture, I am a celebration and anything that I choose to be, even if it
does not exist in this world.
I want my artwork to be appreciate by others and hopefully inspire them to find themselves through creativity and to celebrate their individualism through whatever medium they choose.
