Sandra Cavanagh

Website: www.sandracavanagh.com
Email: studio@sandracavanagh.com

Instagram: sandra_cavanagh_artista

STATEMENT

I sustain a mostly figurative focus in reaction to current and historical narratives, including my own. Recent global events have led me to considerations of mortality and loss of innocence in transgenerational stories, the usefulness of art’s centuries old regard of myth, foundational stereotypes and the mundane occurrence of violence.

Maintaining a consistent practice, I've developed a large portfolio of work including paintings, drawings and prints. I take intervals with the painting of still life and portraiture.

Growing up in Argentina I experienced life in a police state, fear of uniformed authority and suspicion of government. This fundamental break of trust in the state led at least to the ideals of militancy and an interest in a politically engaged art. To date, societal events such as injustice, violence, gender inequality continue to be a source for the narratives I develop on paper and canvas.

Interested in the pairing of form and message, and formal variations on a theme, I have often worked in series, creating pictorial storylines with some urgency to exhaust the subject and form to the point of understanding or unburdening myself of it. The result is an annotation of feelings and opinions underscoring a dramatic approach to form and message.

BIOGRAPHY

Sandra Cavanagh completed a Foundation in Fine Arts and a BA degree from the Kent Institute of Art and Design, UK. Born and educated in Argentina, she read Social Sciences at the University of Belgrano, Buenos Aires before emigrating to California and later to the UK. She returned to full residency in the United States in 2010 and has worked and resided in New York City ever since.

Cavanagh’s work is has featured in many exhibitions including at Hudson Valley MoCA, Pen & Brush, Gallery 14C, Westbeth Gallery in NY; Miami International Fine Art, FL; Museo Limen, Italy; IUP, PA., Schelfhauldt Gallery, UB, CT; Susquehanna Art Museum and National Liberty Museum, PA.

Cavanagh was awarded the 2025 Jackson Art Prize for oil painting, the Spring 2025 Homiens Art Prize. She is listed in the White Columns Registry, she has appeared on the cover of Create! Magazine, she has been interviewed and featured by various publications, such as Women in the Arts Network, Contemporary Art Collectors, The Jersey Journal, Jackson's, White Hot Magazine, Contemporary Art Collectors and Canvas Rebel.