My artwork
Artist Bio.
Sheila Cavanagh is a psychoanalyst and artist based in Toronto. She brings her interest in nature and the human psyche to her abstract paintings and mixed media wall sculptures. Cavanagh’s current work is made of found materials from the shores of Lake Ontario (Leslie Spit). She choreographs her own artistic explorations alongside a community of artists at the Akin Collective in Toronto. Cavanagh’s art has been exhibited at the Art Gallery of Mississauga, the Latcham Art Centre in Stouffville, the Propeller Art Gallery in Toronto and, most recently, the 2026 Society of Canadian Artists International Online Juried Exhibition.
Artist Statement
I do mixed media paintings and wall-sculptures. As a psychoanalyst and artist inspired by the healing properties of water, I beachcomb for materials from the built environment: relics of the city’s past. To make way for modernist architecture in the 1960s-1980s, the City of Toronto demolished immigrant and working class neighbourhoods. Shattered building materials were disposed of in Lake Ontario. Each material fragment appearing in my work was collected along the shores of Tommy Thompson Park (Leslie Spit). The materials have been changed by waves, ice and time. My wall sculptures are designed to find beauty in fragmentation, hope in despair, and renewal in demolition.
Juried Exhibitions:
‘Raining Gems’ (April 24, 2026) Society of Canadian Artists (SCA) Open International Online Juried Exhibition, Canada.
(May 23, 2026) Awarded Gallery Space at Youngplace Craft and Art Fair 2026, Toronto (Canada)
‘Raining Gems’ (May 26 - June 11, 2026) Neilson Park Creative Centre’s (NPCC) Be Creative Pride Juried exhibition, Etobicoke (Canada).
‘Opulence’ (March 16-April 25 2026) Annual Juried Exhibition at the Latcham Art Centre, Stouffville (Canada).
‘Raining Gems’ (Nov 2025 - Jan 2026) Annual Juried Exhibition at the Art Gallery of Mississauga (Canada).
Group Exhibitions:
“Vanilla Drops” and “Black Out” (Feb. 11-March 1, 2026) Eureka exhibition. Propeller Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada.
“Excavation” and “Whirlwind” (March 8-23, 2025) Small Pleasures Exhibition. Propeller Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Artist Residencies:
Magpie Ridge Art Residency, Cherry Gardens, South Australia (Dec. 12-18, 2025).
Raining Gems Series
Raining Gems III (11x14”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Raining Gems: I (24x36”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Raining Gems: IV (12x16”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Raining Gems: II (24x36”) - SOLD
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Vanilla Drops
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Beaded Curtain
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Rorschach Inkblot Series
Geopolitics (16x16”)
Pottery Sherds on Birch Cradleboard
Planetary Axis (16x16”)
Pottery Sherds on Birch Cradleboard
Art Deco (12x16”) - SOLD
Pottery Sherds on Birch Cradleboard
Turquoise (6×8)
Pottery Sherds on Birch Cradleboard
Red Brick II (6×8”)
Red Brick on Birch Cradleboard
Broken Necklace (16x16”)
Pottery Sherds on Birch Cradleboard
Burgandy (10×10”)
Pottery Sherds on Birch Cradleboard
Tripartite I (6×8”)
Pottery Sherds on Birch Cradleboard
Red Brick III (6×8”)
Red Brick on Birch Cradleboard
Animal Tracks (6×8”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Rabbit Tracks (6×8”)
Pottery Sherds on Birch Cradleboard
Golden Egg (6×8”)
Brick on Birch Cradleboard
Midnight Sun (6×8”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Broken Wing (8×11”)
Pottery Sherds on Birch Cradleboard
Excavation (12x12”)
Pottery Sherds on Birch Cradleboard
Burgandy (6×8”)
Pottery Sherds on Birch Cradleboard
Red Brick I (6×8”)
Red Brick on Birch Cradleboard
Bear Claw (6×8”)
Red Brick and Pottery Sherds on Birch Cradleboard
Equipoise (8×11”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Suprematism (6×8”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Heart of Stone Series
Heart of Stone (12×12”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Heart of Stone (12x12”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Opulence (10×10”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Abstract Geometry II (16×16”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Heartbeat (12x12”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Red Eye (12×16”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Pulmonary Artery (12x12”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Abstract Geometry (10×10”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Acrylic Inks Designs
Camera Obscura Series
Camera Obscura (12x16”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Totem and Taboo (12x16”)
Mixed Media on Birch Cradleboard
Abstract Collage
