Michelle Stewart is a lecturer and academic coordinator of the Digital Arts program at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. She holds a master's degree in fine arts and art history and a PhD in fine art animation studies. Her research interests straddle both traditional and new media art approaches, in particular - traditional painting and drawing media, experimental ‘fine art’ animation and digital arts processes. She has had solo exhibitions and taken part in group exhibitions, conferences, and symposia in South Africa and abroad. Her experimental animated film “Big Man” has been screened on international film festivals in Prague, Belgium, Amsterdam and South Africa (winning the Best Animated Film Award at the Euro Kino Czech International Independent Film Festival in Prague). She has published in local and international journals and conference proceedings within the fields of fine art, creative research, and animation.