Aux Arts

Aux Arts

Aux Arts was founded by the late award winning Artist Auxillia Tatisa whose passion for art was her very life. She was born in 1972 in the rural village of Chirumhanzu Zimbabwe and later on would be introduced to a world of immense beauty and creativity through art by a first generation art guru known as Locadia Ndandarika who helped her to harness her creative powers and create art that would “wow” the world. She had an amazing mind and spirit. During her lifetime she was featured on various national and international media platforms such as newspapers, magazines, websites, and television and radio stations. Her work has gone as far as Belgium, France, Britain, Germany, Canada, China and South Africa to name but a few. The following is her auto-biography.

Auxillia Tatisa Biography

“I am a Zimbabwean female artist. I do stone sculpture, African jewellery and music. I began my art career in 1992 at Chapungu Gallery with help from my aunt Locadia Ndandarika. She is one of the top female artists in Zimbabwe. I was taught art at Chapungu for three years and then I started embarking on my own things.

I was born in Chirumhanzu in 1972 on the seventh day of July in a family of two children, my brother and I. Unfortunately my parents died. My father was working at Zisco Steel as a crane driver. I grew up in both urban and rural environments. My father was very strict with me and always wanted me to stand for myself. He used to say to me, “My daughter you must be strong and brave, you must be able to stand up for yourself in life because I will not always be there for you”. It seems as if He knew that he would die early. The way he treated my brother and I was the same. The way my father brought me up was the driving force behind my own career and his words were inspirational in my development as an artist.

Growing up I used to spend most of my school holidays in Chirumhanzu where our rural home is situated. Chirumhanzu is a very beautiful place of dense forestation and magnificent mountains that spur into valleys where rivers flow gracefully across the landscape. It is an area full of wildlife where one can find animals such as baboons, rabbits, kudus, wolves and tortoise, birds such as eagles, owls, crows, doves etc. This is how I fell in love with depicting animals in my artwork as I would admire most of them whilst herding cattle or taking nature walks. My grandmother would also tell us stories based on animals called “Ngano” in my culture. These stories were meant to teach or convey messages on morality, culture and important life lessons.

The struggles I encountered growing up and my experiences  as a woman and a mother were also big influences in my art work where I have sought to show the world the struggles and joys of womanhood and motherhood through art. God has blessed me with a son Simbarashe McNorris Hakata whom I am also teaching how to sculpt and a talent with which I hope to communicate with to the world. To sum it all up in one sentence- My art is an expression of my life story and the lessons I have learned growing up to this day.

I have worked with various artists because I benefit a lot from it. As artists we encourage each other by sharing advice and ideas. My works have been established by collectors such as Chapungu Gallery, Zimbabwe National Art Gallery, John Boine Gallery, African Millennium, Fran Franley and Dominic Studio to mention but a few.”

Sadly my mother and best friend Auxillia Tatisa (God rest her soul) passed away on the 4th of September 2008 on a business trip in South Africa. However she left a legacy of bold passion and beauty in her art work through Aux Arts. Her memory and love still lives on and so also her magnificent art.

Aux Arts is now an organisation that will not only feature Auxillia Tatisa’s works but also those of various artists from across Zimbabwe and the region. Our vision is to become a voice of art and artists in the region, to showcase and support artists even in these difficult economic conditions, to become a hub for all artists especially stone sculptors.

This is a tribute to the late Auxillia Tatisa.

Aux Arts is a member of the Binah Group www.binahgroup.com email at auxarts@binahgroup.com