Sinead Davies, born in Ireland, studied at the Byam Shaw School in London from 1976 to 1980, winning the Byam Shaw Scholarship in 1978 and the British Foundation Institute Award of the Royal Academy of Art in 1980. She represented Ireland at the Cleveland International Drawing Biennale in 1981 and was selected for exhibition in the Camden Arts show and the British Drawing show in 1982. The following year, she moved to Australia to marry, raise a son and co-found Davies Davies Design Consultants Pty Ltd. In 2006 she returned to art full-time; since then she has been a finalist in the ANL Marine Art Prize, the Blake Prize and the Doug Moran Prize and has been a Portia Geach finalist four times.