︎︎︎artist statement
The grounding presence of natural forms is fundamental to my interdiciplinary creative practice as proxy to the inextricable connections of bodies, ecosystems, and social phenomena. In a time of great ecological and societal loss, my focus is to create art for inquiry, healing, and connection.
As I explore creative engagement with place, collaboration and curation are powerful tools to weave ways of knowing and seeing beyond my own lens. From storytelling projects to co-created public installations, each project holds space to discover and realize those synergies while casting a wide net of creative authorship.
As I explore creative engagement with place, collaboration and curation are powerful tools to weave ways of knowing and seeing beyond my own lens. From storytelling projects to co-created public installations, each project holds space to discover and realize those synergies while casting a wide net of creative authorship.
Where do the boundaries between “me” “us” and “nature” get blurry?
When do we practice reciprocity with the natural world and each other?
How does landscape hold our hopes, dreams, fears, and traumas?
︎︎︎
Current Roles
Retrospective Executive Producter
Design Studio for Social Intervention
Artistic Director
Public Art Dialogue
bio︎︎︎
SHEILA NOVAK (she/they, b. 1990) is an interdisciplinary artist and curator living and working on Gayog̱hó:nǫ́ (NY) and Massa-adchu-es-et (MA), &Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (MN) land. Currently enrolled at Cornell University, Sheila is pursuing her Master of Fine Arts Degree in Visual Creative Arts.
Sheila's honors include a Fellowship with the Mellon Collaborative Studies in Architecture, Urbanism, and the Humanities (2024) and a Creative Community Fellowship with National Art Strategies (2018). Sheila has served as an Artist in Residence with Pao Art Center (2021), the Urbano Project (2020), Hennepin County Medical Center (2015-2017), and Holden Village (2014). Sheila received her B.A. in Studio Art and Environmental Science from St. Olaf College (2012).