SHALINI BHARADWAJ

Artist Statement

 

Shalini Bharadwaj is a London based contemporary mixed-media artist whose practice explores the space between memory and imagination. Shaped by her Indian heritage, her work draws upon fragments of people, places and objects, weaving personal recollections and cultural associations into evocative visual narratives.

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Working intuitively, Bharadwaj embraces experimentation and the unpredictable nature of materials, allowing each painting to evolve through a process of discovery. Her background in graphic design is subtly evident in her approach to composition, form and visual balance, bringing a considered structure to an otherwise instinctive and exploratory practice.

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At the heart of Bharadwaj's practice is a fascination with the emotional resonance of memory. Drawing on childhood nostalgia and the cultural landscape of her Indian heritage, she captures fleeting moments and familiar imagery, reimagined through the lens of time and experience. Her compositions often suggest narratives without fully revealing them, inviting viewers to bring their own memories, emotions and associations to the work.

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Employing a distinctive mixed-media language combining acrylic, charcoal, high-pigment inks and Japanese silk tissue paper, she creates surfaces rich in texture, depth and visual complexity. Layered surfaces, areas of intense light and shadow, and translucent forms create a visual tension between presence and absence, solidity and fragility. Elements emerge, dissolve and overlap, echoing the fragmented and shifting nature of memory itself.​

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For Bharadwaj, the creative process is one of continual exploration:

“The process is as important as the end result. I rarely start with a preconceived idea — I like to see where the material and momentum take me.”

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Background

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Having developed an interest in art and design from an early age, Bharadwaj studied Graphic Design at Nottingham Trent University, graduating with First Class Honours and receiving major national awards, including recognition from D&AD and the Society of Typographic Designers. Following a successful career with leading London digital design studios, she now focuses on her artistic practice from her West London studio.

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Achievements

 

Bharadwaj has exhibited widely across the UK, including at the Royal Society of British Artists' Bicentennial Exhibition at Mall Galleries, London, in 2023, where her painting Take a Pause was selected. In 2025, two of her works achieved successful auction sales at Bonhams, London, with a further work scheduled for auction at Bonhams, New York, in December 2026. A regular exhibitor at the Affordable Art Fair in Hampstead and Battersea, Harrow Open Studios and the Borough of Ealing Art Trail, her work continues to attract an expanding audience of collectors in the UK and internationally. 

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She is also the founder of By/Design Collective (founded in 2024), an independent, artist-led collective bringing together artists from diverse disciplines and backgrounds, fostering collaboration and creating opportunities to exhibit and engage directly with collectors.