Agata Derda explores the interpersonal dynamics of human existence. As stand-ins for human figures in her “Dark Roads” series, she substitutes manipulated vegetation or forms that are staged within ambiguous, foreboding landscapes. Suggesting man-made construction, it is through these forms’ existence in the barren environments of her prints that Derda examines issues of gender, toxic masculinity, and the underpinning of systemic human suffering that we, as a species, experience day-to-day.

Agata Derda is a Polish-Canadian visual artist and printmaker. She undertook a BFA in Printmaking in the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology in Ireland, followed by completion of her MFA at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Her work has been the subject of solo-exhibitions in Canada, and numerous group-exhibitions internationally in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. Derda currently lives in Cambridge, producing her print works in Toronto and Hamilton based studios.