Taking
Up Space
Exhibition July 3-30, 2026
Vintage linens, aprons, handkerchiefs and upcycled textiles form the foundation of Jessica Sheila's work. Layered with watercolour paint, they become reflections on memory, identity and transformation
About the Artist
Jessica Sheila works with upcycled textiles, vintage linens, embroidery, lace and paint to explore memory, identity, women’s histories and self-trust.
Her work transforms everyday domestic objects into contemporary artworks, honouring the hands, labour and stories already held within the fabric.
Fabric That Already Held History
In Taking Up Space, cloth is not simply a surface. It is a material with a past.
Aprons, table linens, handkerchiefs, lace and embroidered textiles become part of the meaning of the work. These objects carry traces of daily life, care, labour and memory before the first brushstroke is added.
Permission to Take Up Space
These works began as permission: permission to trust the hand, to move freely, and to quiet the critical voice.
The flowers are not merely decorative. They become a language of growth, confidence, resilience and transformation.
Artist Statement
These paintings began as permission. Permission to get to know myself, to feel and trust myself, to stop overthinking and stop listening to the critical voice inside my head — and simply follow my hand across fabric that already held history.
It started with fabric itself — I would choose larger pieces that I could move across freely, without hesitation or second-guessing. Painting on fabric encouraged me to take up space, to get out of my head and into my body, to trust my choices.
A few years ago I came across some thrifted linens — and something shifted. These weren’t just surfaces. Handkerchiefs, aprons, tablecloths, all with beautiful details like embroidery and lace, used in women’s daily lives, and eventually set aside.
Objects that once mattered, slowly forgotten. I felt the thread that connected me to them. Other women’s hands had already been here, in the embroidery, in the care. I was adding mine.
That freedom surprised me. Not just in the paintings, but in the quieting of a voice that had long told me my work wasn’t ready, wasn’t right, wasn’t enough.
It is. I am. And still, the flowers come.
— Jessica Sheila
Visit the Exhibition
Opening Reception
Friday, July 3, 2026
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Arts Haven & Big Blue Gallery
Belliveau Cove, Nova Scotia