About:
Isabella Nicastro is a contemporary Canadian artist based in Toronto, Ontario. She is currently completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at OCAD University.
Working primarily in painting, photography, curation, and text, her practice places emphasis on concepts of lived experience, perception of self, familial relations, ancestral heritage, spirituality, and everyday rituals associated with the home environment. She often creates depictions of traditional still-life and portraiture through a contemporary lens, utilizing close-cropped and selectively curated compositions. A strong interplay of light and shadow is weaved throughout, and the quiet, reflective nature of her artwork lends itself to the deep sense of introspection found at the core of her artwork.
Her work has been featured in several exhibitions and private collections locally in Toronto, as well as internationally in London, England.
Isabella Nicastro
b. 2002, Toronto, ON.
CV
Upcoming Exhibitions:
2025 My Mother's Tongue, Boxcar Social, Toronto, ON.
2025 GradEx 110, OCAD University, Toronto, ON.
2025 The House and the Home, Old Victoria College at the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.
2025 Art of Hope (permanent collection), UHN West Park Healthcare Centre, Etobicoke, ON.
Select Group Exhibitions:
2025 Caves to Creatures, Ada Slaight Gallery, Toronto, ON.
2024 New Vistas: Echoes of Home, Etobicoke Civic Centre Art Gallery, Etobicoke, ON.
2024 Under 100, Northern Contemporary Gallery, Toronto, ON.
2024 Expressions, Art Space Connect Gallery, Etobicoke, ON.
2024 Intersections: Threads of Tradition and Identity, Cloverdale Common, Etobicoke, ON.
2024 Land, Sea, and Sky, collaborative virtual exhibition with OCAD University and international partner institutions, Toronto, ON.
2024 Homebound (co-curator), collaborative virtual exhibition with OCAD University and international partner institutions, Toronto, ON.
2024 Milk and Honey, Brixton Tate Library, London, EN.
2024 Coalesce, Copeland Gallery, London, EN.
2023 A Breathing Room For the Spirit, MCA OCAD University, Toronto, ON.
2022 The First Self-Portrait: Cultural Appropriation, MCA OCAD University, Toronto, ON.
2019 Visual Arts Exhibition, J.E.H MacDonald House, Thornhill, ON.
2018 Night at the Salon, YCDSB Centre for the Arts, Thornhill, ON.
Publications/Press:
2025 (upcoming) DRPT GradEx Catalogue, OCAD University,Toronto, ON.
2025 Echoes of Home: Reverberations, Toronto, ON.
2025 Stories We Tell, International Collaborative Zine, Toronto, ON.
2024 Expressions, Exhibition Catalogue, Artusiasm, Toronto, ON.
2024 Milk and Honey, Exhibition Zine, Lambeth Library Readers and Writers Festival, London, EN.
2022-2023 Journal of Visual and Critical Studies, JVCS OCAD University, Toronto, ON.
Grants and Awards:
2025 Elliot Joel Bursary, Toronto, ON.
2024 Frances Lea Ziegler Memorial Scholarship, Toronto, ON.
2024 OCAD University CEAD Career Launcher Award with Partial Gallery, Toronto, ON.
2023 Kendra Jaal McCleskey Memorial Bursary, Toronto, ON.
2023 St George's Society of Toronto Bursary in Art and Design, Toronto, ON.
2021 OCAD University TSA Bursary, Toronto, ON.
Residencies/ Forums:
2025 CreateSpace Public Art Forum, STEPS Public Art, Virtual.
Collections:
Works held in private collections locally in the Greater Toronto Area and internationally in London, England.
Conferences:
2025 In Conversation With: June Clark (Introduction), Encounters With Artists Collective, OCAD University, Toronto, ON.
2025 In Conversation With: Rajni Perera (Interview Panel) Encounters With Artists Collective, OCAD University, Toronto, ON.
2023 Life and Relationships in the Domestic Space, Professional Practice Course, OCAD University, Toronto, ON.
Juror Experience:
2024 Homebound, virtual international exhibition, OCAD University.
2023-2024 APEX Art International Open Call For Exhibitions, New York City, USA.
Performances:
2025 (upcoming) Open Night on the Mic, Darkhorse Espresso Bar, Toronto, ON.
2025 Muttertongue by Lilian Allen, Gary Barwin and Gregory Betts: Book Launch (group performance), Tranzac Club, Toronto, ON.
Relevant Experience:
Team Member (internship), M Polo Designs, Sunnybrook Hospital public installation, Toronto, ON.
Director, DRPT Catalogue Committee, OCAD University, Toronto, ON.
Research and Panel Interviewer, Encounters With Artists Collective, Toronto, ON.
Community Manager (internship), helloart, Toronto, ON.
Publicity and Invigilation for "Coalesce", Copeland Gallery, London, EN.
Publicity, Publication, and Installation for "Milk and Honey", Brixton Tate Library, London, EN.
Visual Arts Instructor, The Creative Child, Toronto, ON.
Visual Arts Instructor, Alla Breve Academy of Music and Arts, Vaughan, ON.
Visual Arts Instructor/ Counsellor, Camp Byng, Robert's Creek, BC.
Editor, Journal of Visual and Critical Studies, Toronto, ON.