Sheila Novak is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Boston, MA. Her work explores grief, loss and vulnerability, as well as themes of belonging and place through a multimedia practice. Layering autobiographical narratives with ecofeminist theory and catholic social teaching, Sheila’s sculptural practice examines the cultural value-systems that alter our relationships with each other, our bodies and the earth. She creates artworks which blur the line between organic and feminine forms, exploring the notion of nature as an extension of the body and as an embodiment of her psychological state. Through highlighting personal and ecological emotion, Sheila critiques how our patriarchal systems damage the feminine in bodily ways, while arguing for a more compassionate, holistic existence and exploring art making as a path to healing
In 2018 Sheila was awarded the New England Fellowship with National Arts Strategies shortly after arriving in Boston from Minneapolis. Sheila has served as the Artist in Residence at Hennepin County Medical Center (2015-2017), as well as an Artist in Residence in Ecology, Spirituality and Community at Holden Village (2014). Sheila received her B.A. in Studio art from St. Olaf College (2012).
I started this knit tapestry for my mom as she fought cancer. With yarn from friends and family, I create a tapestry would serve as a wrap, surrounding her body with tangible, healing with love. It is displayed like her life: incomplete.The grief of my mother’s loss surrounds me as this installation surrounds the viewer: empty and glacial but quietly filled with reminders of her. In painting over the photos and exposing her face with my hands, I uncover deep memories of my mother.
