Halla Shafey

The winner of the Artists & Illustrators Award at the Pastel Society’s annual show talks to REBECCA BRADBURY about prompting a pastel renaissance from her home studio in Cairo

- REBECCA BRADBURY

Switching careers is never a decision to be taken lightly, especially when trading more than 25 years of experience as a high-flying professional for the unpredictable path of an artist. Yet a mid-life occupation switch was a risk that Halla Shafey was willing to take. After a successful career as an economist, she is now a full-time artist – and that gamble has paid dividends. Not only has the Cairo-based artist won numerous awards for her wonderfully textured, multicoloured artworks – including the Artists & Illustrators Award at the Pastel Society’s recent annual exhibition for her painting, A Walk in the Fields – but she has also been praised by Egyptian critics for revolutionising the medium.

Firstly, Halla’s art is abstract – a subject that is by no means ground breaking in the wider art world but is rarely seen among the international pastel community. While most stick to the medium’s realist roots, Halla works spontaneously, responding to observations, emotions and colours.

On top of this, the artist experiments with non-traditional media. Despite protestations from pastel purists, she works over acrylic paints, linocuts and monoprints creating textures so lifelike that some of her paintings look like patchworks of rich fabrics.

Although appearing slightly uneasy with the notion she’s led a pastel rebellion, Halla is clearly not afraid to break the so-called rules – “I am always experimenting with different techniques and trying to push the boundaries of pastel” – and notes how her global success has instigated a renewed interest among Egyptian artists. “Pastel hasn’t been very popular in Egypt,” she explains. “There’s definitely been a renaissance after people have seen my work and my international exposure.”