Artist Profile

Born to Be Blue is part of a new series that deals with creating an illusion of depth and space with the use of color and drawing.

This piece was added to the AFA Art Collection in 2024 and is currently part of the New Views exhibition at the AFA art house in Calgary. It is currently featured on the art house "New Acquisitions" wall, which will be updated regularly with new works from the AFA Art Collection.

Artist Dick Der (right) poses next to his artwork, Born to Be Blue, next to Jean Der (left).

About the Artist

Dick Der was born in China and moved to Canada as a child. He graduated from the University of Alberta in 1974, earning his BFA. 

According to the late arts journalist Gilbert Bouchard, Der possesses a “love of all things urban” that he expresses through “geometric works [that] depict abstract inner-city vistas [and] boast actual objects salvaged from downtown streets—metal rods, lengths of wire, hunks of rebar, bits of wood, cardboard, and squares of metal screen.” Such materials, said Bouchard, demonstrate “Der’s particular love of more derelict aspects of city life—old buildings and abandoned warehouses… [and] aged portions of legendary cosmopolitan megacities [such as] New York or Paris.”

Der says he aims at evoking a “tranquil, mystical, and spiritual experience” through his mixed-media collages and paintings, which may also contain Chinese calligraphy whose meanings he does not intend to be taken literally, but whose forms suggest a “connection between the past, present, and future.” 

Der’s solo exhibitions in Edmonton include Studio Watch at the Edmonton Art Gallery, In the Rough at The Works Festival, and Chinatown Tango and Snapshots at the Scott Gallery in Edmonton. Several public, corporate, and private collections house Der’s work, including those of the Grand Prairie College, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Camino Foundation, Anglo Continental Limited in Hong Kong, and the Singapore Eromatic Company. Der recently retired from the Department of Art and Design, Painting Division, at the University of Alberta. 

About the artwork

This fibre artwork consists of plastic sequins and polyester thread on fabric.

This artwork is included in the Here & Now exhibition at the Royal Alberta Museum until September 29, 2024. Learn more about the exhibition.

The AFA acquired this artwork through its Art Acquisition by Application program in 2023. This program is designed to acquire contemporary works of art by any eligible Alberta artist.

Artist statement

View this artist's statement as a PDF.

SPECIAL NEEDS was a label I resented as a child with a learning disability. I’ve reimagined this term into a dazzling, shimmering message of acceptance for diversity.

By rescuing words that made me feel alienated for being different, I’ve turned them into a sequin encrusted, packed to the max, full on acknowledgement, that what makes us different, makes us special.

About the artist

Esther was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on November 20th, 1976.

Esther's Artwork utilizes common and found materials to narrate a metaphorical parallel reflection of her life and of her surroundings. The subjects depicted in her work highlight objects, images, and texts that are most often over looked and considered unimportant. She is known for the great amount of attention and care she gives to each construction. 

About the artwork

The artwork consists of a lightbox, a 40 x 40 inch print on backlit film paper, situated it between two pieces of plexiglass. The lightbox is created from salvaged scraps of wood a shop at the Banff Centre, cut to make a 41 x 5 x 41 box. The work is illuminated by LED strip lights located at the back of the photograph. 

This artwork is included in the Here & Now exhibition at the Royal Alberta Museum until September 29, 2024. Learn more about the exhibition.

The AFA acquired this artwork through its Art Acquisition by Application program in 2023. This program is designed to acquire contemporary works of art by any eligible Alberta artist.

Artist statement

The following is an excerpt of Nahanni McKay's artist statement. Read the full artist statement.

My work, Hole 8 at the Banff Springs Fairmont Golf Course, represents how the national park system is a colonial structure that prioritizes tourism over sacred Indigenous lands and wildlife of turtle island. Challenging myself in my photography, I used 120mm film for the first time dubious of how the film would turn out. Using the skulls of deer, cougars and bears I positioned these sacred items on the Hole 8 to create an uneasy looking creature.

About the artist

Nahanni McKay is a Métis artist based in Banff Alberta. Nahanni produces photographic images of objects that take the shape of spirits around her home of Treaty 7 in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta. The work she has produced aims to discuss the need to decolonize the complicated National Park system. Her work is in relation to the human impact of the natural environment by creating an unsettling image to be observed by the viewer. McKay is mesmerized by the beauty of her hometown and how the mountains attract a colonial desire to commercialize and conquer this sacred place.

Since graduating from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2017, Nahanni McKays’ photographic and sculptural work has been exhibited extensively across Canada and Europe. Recent exhibitions include Hole 8 at the European Cultural Centre, (Venice) and  Loop 14 was exhibited at the Contemporary Calgary as well as Art Toronto in 2020. McKay has received several awards including the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award in 2022. The artist's work is included in the permanent collection of the Alberta Foundation of the Arts.

Nahanni is an avid skier and has taken part in a film project called Beyond Begbie, being released February 2024.