Discover the RCA graduate exploring spirituality through nature

Shafina Jaffer (Art & Design Graduate Diploma, 2021, Painting MA, 2023) is an artist from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Her experience of the Art & Design Graduate Diploma at the RCA was profound. “It’s been the most transformational period of my life,” she explained. “Had I not done the Graduate Diploma, I wouldn’t have known that I’m an abstract, spiritual artist.”

Shafina’s work explores nature and spirituality. Her heritage, memories, personal connections and responses to plants and trees all inform her abstract compositions. During her time at the RCA Shafina began to incorporate organic materials such as bark cloth, soil, cow bone, gold, saffron, turmeric and coffee, into her work. Her pieces are often led by her responses to these materials.

“My work is inspired from nature, but I’m also very intuitive,” she outlined. “The drawings are about the journey of life, the circle of life, the challenges of life, the soul, the energy that moves through the different energy points in life; how you struggle to meet your higher self and receive contentment. There’s a lot of thought in my work about what I want people to get from it. It’s not just random mark-making. I want to make paintings that promote gratitude.”

Shafina is from an interior design background. Over the last 20 years, she has designed large scale hotels, fitness clubs, luxury spas and several unique cinema exhibition sites in Eastern and Southern Africa. She was inspired to come to the RCA to study Art & Design Graduate Diploma to expand her creative practice in a new direction. “What I like about the Royal College of Art is they take people from different spheres,” Shafina reflected. “They’re not just taking artists to come into their programmes.”

In 2023 Shafina’s painting Take Me Away, was selected to be shown at the Coronation Concert of their Majesties King Charles III & Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle. The same year she was also shortlisted for the Hyundai Awards for Excellence in Sustainability and Creative practice. Her barkcloth painting, The Temptation, was showcased at the National Gallery in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, on the occasion of India's republic day.

On the Graduate Diploma programme Shafina built strong relationships with her tutors and peers. She was pushed to explore what her practice is and learnt to apply new techniques. “They teach you so many techniques,” she commented. “The team is so strong, in all departments; whether they teach you how to write, how to prepare a portfolio to apply for an MA, or how to develop your art.”

After completing the Graduate Diploma, Shafina stayed at the College to further develop her practice through the Painting MA programme. As Shafina recalled, the Art & Design Graduate Diploma helped prepare her for further study. “In the Graduate Diploma, they really trained you over those few months to be fearless and experiment, until you understand there is no wrong. Had I not done the Graduate Diploma, I wouldn't have been prepared for the MA.”

Shafina also benefited from the collaborative environment of the prograqmme, making close connections with her peers. “You’re putting out your soul onto canvas, or paper, or wood, or any medium of your choice,” she explained. “When you expose your vulnerability and you’ve been doing that in a group, it’s a different kind of bonding.”