SHELFALI WARDELL

SHELFALI WARDELL, LECTURER

E: sheflai.wardell@falmouth.ac.uk

Shefali received her first commission in 1998 after studying art and design which developed into working with character illustration and special effects / prosthetics design for screen and stage via a number of other non-arts roles.

After over 20 years, Shefali’s most recent illustration work has been centred around public and co-collaborative community projects. This is often combined with authorial illustration and a range of commercial interests, for example, setting up financially sustainable print projects for two local charities, making merchandise from group illustrations.

Shefali would consider herself mostly an interdisciplinary drawing artist. Against the discipline of drawing, Shefali has a passion for new things and enjoys changing her working materials every few years, placing an emphasis on immersing hersel in new skills. Since the start of the pandemic, which changed the working dynamic for community setups, Shefali has returned to illustrating with digital programmes as well as 3d materials I she formally used in prosthetics. Shefali has taught professional printmaking as well as illustration and drawing, and has written about arts economics since 2008. This research interest in economic sustainability in the arts initially came from working in the film industry but has been fuelled by her drive in maintaining creative and financial independence as a freelancer. In 2014, Shefali set up publishing company Pudding Press Ltd, and also work with developing economically accessible curating models.