Diyar Mayil is an artist working in sculpture, installation and performance. She addresses issues of comfort, discomfort, adaptation and the acceptance of different bodies in public and private contexts.  She is the Laureate for the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Fellowship (2022) in Contemporary Art and the recipient of 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, Circa Art Actuel, Centre Clark and NARS Foundation. Upcoming commitments include solo exhibitions at Articule and FoFA Gallery in Montréal. She holds a BFA and MFA from Concordia University. Originally from Istanbul, she now lives and works in Montreal.

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