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Tawanda Marwizi Arts Correspondent
When artist Mavis Tauzeni tried her luck in sculpting some years back, all did not go well with her as she encountered serious health problems. Her body reacted severely whenever she tried to carve a stone into an artefact.

For Tauzeni it was a dream shattered as she was afraid of worsening the health problem.

She tried other avenues in life but her mind and passion remained in arts until 2007 when she decided to join the National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe Visual Art School and she attained a certificate.

She then started to express her views through painting.

“At first it was not easy to accept the problems I encountered but to me it was a stepping stone,” she said.

Her works are presented from a woman’s perspective as she constantly reflects on the relationship between a woman and the society. Tauzeni, who is an artist at the First Floor Gallery, said she was happy that her works have done enough to speak her mind on topical issues.

“I feel that women in particular relate the physical with the spiritual and emotional world in a uniquely powerful way, being the givers of life and the nurtures of others. The physical strength is integral to the spiritual importance,” she said.

Her work in print and mixed media, moves one to meditation and reflection of one’s inner self in the same way as Tauzeni herself reflects on her inner world.

Tauzeni represented First Floor Gallery Harare at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London, 2013 and at Berliner Liste 2013. She has bagged a number of awards including award of merit (Peace Exhibition, Gallery Delta, Harare, Zimbabwe 2010), Special Mention Prize,(Facet Zimbabwe Now exhibition, Gallery Delta, Zimbabwe, 2009) and second prize for mixed media, (Walls Exhibition Gallery Delta, Harare, Zimbabwe) among others. She was born in Mutoko in 1982 and grew up in Chitungwiza.