Mardi Cavana

I am a designer and artist, creating from my home studio in Sydney, mostly in the very late hours of the evening. After 15 years of pushing pixels as a digital designer, I'm swapping screen for canvas and getting my hands dirty again.

I am fascinated by the beauty of imperfection that I see in everyday things. Cracked pavements, rusted house numbers, textured walls and ripped posters. I see this as magic in the mundane and I aim to capture this in my work through colour, texture and layering.

I work in acrylics on canvas and paper with graphite, pencil, watercolour and pastels to add finishing touches and detail. My process involves addition and subtraction, layering paint with brushes and subtracting it again with any tool at hand – the edge of paint tubes, pencils, sticks. This is a process I repeat, with each layer of paint telling a part of the overall story

Bachelor Graphic Design from Newcastle University. My degree was very art focused which allowed me to pursue my passion for illustration while gaining valuable skills to carve out a design career.

2022:
Group Show. Dec 29 to Feb 2 @ 55 Parrots

2021:
The Other Art Fair Sydney. 2 - 5 December @ The Cutaway Barangaroo

Spring Forward, No Falling Back. 27 Oct - 14 Nov @ The Wellington Gallery

Group Show. 23 June - 4 July @ The Wellington Gallery

Abstraction Group Show. 7 April - 9 May @ The Space Gallery

The Other Art Fair Sydney. 18 - 21 March @ The Cutaway, Barangaroo

2020:
Inverell Contemporary 2020 Exhibition. 16 May @ Inverell Art Gallery

Carry On Online Exhibition. 1 - 31 May @ The Space Gallery

The Other Art Fair Sydney. 19 - 22 March @ The Cutaway, Barangaroo (postponed due to COVID)

2019:
The Other Art Fair Sydney. 24 - 27 October @ The Cutaway, Barangaroo