Born in Mumbai, India, and educated in Hong Kong and Sydney, Nafisa Naomi spent time studying medicine at the University of NSW and Fine Arts at Sydney University before turning to operating a successful fashion business for many years.
In 1999 she won the Arthur Boyd Scholarship to the Julian Ashton Art School and since then has had work in over 80 group shows with over 40 awards and commendations to her credit. Numerous portrait awards include the Portia Geach Memorial Award (2001, -04, -05); the Archibald Salon des R é fus é s in 2003 ; the Blake Prize 2006 and 2007 and the Dobell Prize in 2005.
Nafisa was awarded a Bronze Medal for her installation at the prestigious Florence Biennale 2005 and again in the Florence Biennale won the Gold Medal for Painting  for her work ‘Regeneration’. Nafisa was presented with a certificate of merit for the American Society of Portrait Artists and is the Founder of Portrait Artists Australia. She is represented in several private and public collections in New York, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Australia.