Shawna McLeod was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in 1978. She completed her BFA in painting in 2002 at the University of Manitoba. During that time, and in the years following, she was an active member of the Winnipeg art community: curating exhibitions and organizing events, participating in an all-girl art collective, teaching classes and developing programs at community art centers. She also traveled to Northern Manitoba to facilitate painting workshops funded by the Canada Council for the Arts. She subsequently spent time in Saskatoon and Toronto before moving to Montreal in 2005 to complete her MFA and teach at Concordia University.

Her current painting and drawing practice is part of an ongoing, loosely autobiographical project, with permutations both doodly and epic. Recurring themes are isolation and wandering, dosed with frivolity and trashiness.

Shawna has shown widely in Canada, and has appeared in several publications, notably Frieze and Border Crossings magazine. She has been included in numerous survey exhibitions of Winnipeg artists, including Supernovas at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 2006, and the Winnipeg Alphabestiary, a Border Crossings publication appearing in the fall of 2008. Her work is part of the Canada Council Art Bank and private collections.

Shawna McLeod was recommended by Sarah Anne Johnson, artist, Winnipeg, Canada