Faculty of Art
Drawing and Painting
Meet the Artist
Isabella
Nicastro
Drawing and Painting/ Fine Arts
“Utilizing a strong interplay of light and shadow, my contemporary representations of still-life and portraiture carefully investigate the intersection between concepts of lived experience, familial relations, ancestral heritage, spirituality, and everyday rituals associated with the home environment. There is a quiet and deeply introspective sense of reflection throughout each of my close-cropped and meticulously detailed works.”

Isabella Nicastro is a contemporary Canadian artist based in Toronto, Ontario. 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.
OCAD U - Faculty of Arts & Science
Creative Writing
Minor Completed, 2025
Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London
BA Fine Arts: Painting (Exchange Semester)
Major Completed, 2024
Fine Arts Painting Creative Writing Criticism and Curatorial Practice Art History
2025, Stories We Tell: International Collaborative Zine and Exhibition.
Stackt Market, North Hall Gallery, Toronto, ON.
2025, My Mother's Tongue
Boxcar Social, Toronto, ON.
2025, Caves to Creatures.
Ada Slaight Gallery, Toronto, ON.
2025, Art of Hope (Permanent Collection).
UHN West Park Healthcare Centre, Etobicoke, ON.
2025, The House and the Home.
Old Victoria College at the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.
2024, New Vistas: Echoes of Home.
Etobicoke Civic Centre Art Gallery, Etobicoke, ON.
2024, Intersections: Threads of Tradition and Identity.
Cloverdale Common, Etobicoke, ON.
2024, Under 100
Northern Contemporary Gallery, Toronto, ON.
2024, Milk and Honey.
Brixton Tate Library, London, England.
2024, Land, Sea, and Sky.
International Virtual Exhibition, OCAD U via Kunstmatrix.
2024, Coalesce.
Copeland Gallery, London, England.
2024, Homebound (Co-curator).
International Virtual Exhibition, OCAD U via Kunstmatrix.
2024, Expressions
Art Space Connect Gallery
2023, A Breathing Room For the Spirit.
OCAD University, Toronto, ON.
2025, Career Launcher Fund
RBC CEAD Centre
2025, Elliot Joel Bursary
OCAD University
2024, Frances Lea Ziegler Memorial Scholarship
OCAD University
2023, St George's Society of Toronto Bursary in Art and Design
OCAD University
2023, Partial Gallery OCAD U Showcase
RBC CEAD Centre
2023, Kendra Jaal McCleskey Memorial Bursary
OCAD University
2021, TSA Bursary
OCAD University

Celebrate the work of OCAD U’s class of 2024/2025!