[2]: 87  Sheehan worked in his father's business, which supplied jade carvings to the tourism market in Rotorua.

I wanted my stuff to relate to the current social environment but also reference the particular way our carving industry has developed'.

[8][9] In 2012 he had his first survey exhibition, 'Joe Sheehan: Other Stories', at Pataka Art + Museum in Porirua, New Zealand.

Sheehan carved over 300 nephrite discs that travel across the space, marking the original bed of the Wai Piro stream.

[12][13][14] Sheehan's work is held in a number of public collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Christchurch Art Gallery, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the Chartwell Collection at the Auckland Art Gallery.