Artist Statement
Cavan’s practice explores the ambiguity and resonance of daily life, focusing on the overlooked moments within everyday environments. Working primarily in oil paint, he isolates fragments of the ordinary, rendering them with a quiet precision that sits between observation and interpretation. The work encourages viewers to reconsider their perceptions of the environments they encounter, slowing their gaze to reveal the emotional and narrative depth embedded within the seemingly ordinary.
Biography
Born in 1999
Based in Scotland
Education
2024
BA (Hons) Painting, First Class
Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, Scotland
Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, Scotland
2020
Portfolio Development
Dundee & Angus College, Dundee, Scotland
Dundee & Angus College, Dundee, Scotland
Awards
2025
Open Eye Gallery Exhibition Award, Visual Arts Scotland
2025
David and June Gordon Memorial Trust Award
2024
Royal Scottish Academy New Contemporaries
2024
Visual Arts Scotland Graduate Showcase — Shortlisted Artist
2024
John Gray Legacy Prize
Group Exhibitions
2026 200th Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2026 Future Folklore, Visual Arts Scotland, Maclaurin Art Gallery, Ayr
2025 The Thread That Pulls, Visual Arts Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2025 New Contemporaries, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2024 Now and Then, Visual Arts Scotland, Dalkeith Palace, Edinburgh
2024 Summer Salon, Detail Gallery, Edinburgh
2024 Grays School of Art Degree Show, Aberdeen
2023 A Gray in the Life, Look Again Festival, Aberdeen
2023 In Response (with Corrie Jennison), CASS Art, Glasgow
2022 Pitlochry Makers: Wild, Alan Reece Gallery, Pitlochry
Other Experience
2023
Curatorial Team — A Gray in the Life, Look Again Festival, Aberdeen
2023
Assistant to George Cheyne — They Came Before Us, Gray’s School of Art
2022
Curatorial Assistant — Paintwork, Gray’s School of Art