Shawna Tavsky
Artist • Photographer • Therapist • Consultant
Exploring art as a living process and reflective space within the human experience.
Trained in somatic psychology and art psychotherapy, she works with complex trauma, chronic stress, and anxiety from a neurodivergent-affirming perspective. Late-diagnosed with AuDHD (Autism & ADHD), her own experience of navigating societal constructs and complex trauma shapes her commitment to supporting others in their paths of discovery, healing, and connection.
In 2011, shortly after moving to Mexico City with her son, Shawna co-founded a contemporary arts and circus center where she spent ten years developing arts education programs. More recently, she taught the online therapeutic arts certificate program at the Canadian International Institute for Art Therapy.
Her current project, Arte Soma, brings together her experience in arts, health and education to develop a creative learning space that nurtures an artistic way of thinking and being.
A creative learning space - launching soon!
Exploring how we experience the world through creativity, perception, and presence.
Rooted in the emerging field of neuroarts — where psychology, art, and sensory awareness meet — Arte Soma invites you to engage with your creative wisdom as a pathway to deeper self-awareness and connection.
Inner Worlds Online Course
Portraits
In Mexico City
Portrait sessions are a gentle play between stillness, movement, and inner-world exploration. A practice of attention, authenticity, and being seen.
Work in progress.
The Woman in the Film
My first novel.
Fragments of the process on Instagram.
@the_woman_in_the_film
“She listens to voices in the walls, dreams of a gentle stream, dances alone, and whispers songs of wildflowers to the wind. Dark secrets play tricks inside her mind as she wanders in her white vintage dress, somewhere between this world and another.”
Work in progress.
In Between
A phenomenological exploration of presence — where inner experience and outward appearance meet through drawing and portraiture.
In Between is a photographic project at the meeting point between inner experience and outward appearance. Each participant is first invited to create an abstract drawing of their inner world — a spontaneous expression of what often remains unseen. Immediately followed by a portrait sitting.
This process allows what is internal to surface: the drawing becomes a mirror of feeling and perception, while the portrait examines how being appears, how the authentic self shows up past what may otherwise be hidden or masked.
Each person titles their work, and ultimately, the project brings together drawing, language, and portraiture in an exploration of presence.
Say Hello!
Whether you have a question, an idea, or simply want to connect, send me a note below.