Jahni Wasserfall was born in Pretoria in 1967, matriculated at the ProArte High School in 1985, and graduated in 1989 from the University of Pretoria with a Bachelors of Fine Art degree.

She worked as fulltime Graphic Designer, and then later as Freelance Designer, and from 2005 she also taught art at both Primary and Secondary (high) School levels.

From 2010 she focussed more on her own art, working in various media, but with drawing as her preferred medium.

She also started incorporating the experience she gained in the design world on computers, experimenting with and creating digital artworks, that was then reworked with oil(alkyd) paint, merging old and new media.  Even though she prefers the traditional, she likes the challenge of combining traditional techniques with modern technology.  She also like the fact that one can take an existing artwork and recreate it into something new, or give it a second or third life.

In 2014 she attended a two month artist residency in the People’s Republic of China as part of their ‘African
Artists painting in China’ cultural outreach exchange that included a group exhibition ‘Wandering in
Zhejiang Province’ in Hangzhou, China.

In 2018 she started drawing classes for adults, teaching drawing as a form of creative empowerment to uplift and
open potential in everyday life, and in 2019 she got involved with facilitating art workshops to enhance personal
growth for adults in the corporate environment through Duke University’s Johannesburg Campus.

From 2005 she has regularly participated in group exhibitions and had various solo exhibitions.

Her inspiration and themes are diverse – everyday happenings, ‘nature’ – both the physical world and ‘human nature’.  One of her chosen themes – “Swimming Upstream’, that later became “Staying Afloat’ is about surviving,
shapeshifting, just ‘being’ and adapting in a changing world. Since 2018 she has been focussing on working on ‘found’ paper – old maps, sheet music, pianola rolls or handmade paper, working with, and on recycled resources.