Diyar Mayil is an artist working in sculpture, installation and performance. She often works with the familiar to address issues of comfort, discomfort and the blurring of public and private contexts. She is the laureate for the Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art (2022) and the recipient of the Liz Crockford Award (2023). Her work has been supported by Canada Council for the Arts, CALQ, Conseil des arts de Montréal and has recently been shown at Whitney ISP, Articule, Circa Art Actuel and Centre Clark. Upcoming commitments include a group exhibition at Oakville Galleries and residencies at Hospitalfield and Edinburgh Sculpture Centre. Her work has been written about in Cmag, Espace, Public Parking, Zero-Deux, La Presse, and Vie des Arts. She holds a BFA and MFA from Concordia University. Originally from Istanbul, she now lives and works in Tiohtià:ke / Montréal.

My sculptural works and performances begin with the body. Most recognizable yet mysterious, the body is highly political. I work with the themes of discomfort and estrangement to explore the intersection of the human body and politics. Conceptually and materially conflating familiar with strange, gentle with perilous, I am in­terested in new bodily orientations and sensibilities.

Photo credit Marc-André Dupaul