Darby Milbrath self-taught painter whose practice is imbued by her past as a contemporary dancer and herbalist, lending to her figurative painting and its process a sense of movement, drama, and solemnity. Growing up in the West Coast Gulf Islands, this fertile and sublime landscape manifests in her art as recurring motifs. Thus, her expressionist paintings come from memory and imagination and are informed by nostalgia, visions, and mysticism. Through non-verbal approaches, both contemporary dance and painting demand the implication of the body, intensity in presence, and an authentic expression of the self to truly transcend the complexities of human life and emotions as experienced. The cyclical nature of ebb and flow, death and rebirth are ongoing themes explored in Darby’s paintings which express empathy, sensuality, sorcery, womanhood, and ceremony. Her paintings are intimate and confessional self-portraits of her life as a young woman.

Darby Milbrath (b.1985, Vancouver Island, Canada) lives and works in Toronto. She holds a Bachelors of Art with honours from the School of Contemporary Dancers in affiliation with the University of Winnipeg. Recent solo exhibitions include Through the Veil (2021), presented at Night Gallery, Los Angeles; Darby Milbrath/08 (2021), at PM/AM, London; and Although the wind... (2020), at Projet Pangée, Montreal. Her work has been exhibited in various group shows such as The Views (2022), curated by Zoe Fisher, at Moskowitz Bayse, Los Angeles; Painters Painting Paintings on Paper (2021), online; Summer Forecast (2019), at Diana Witte, Toronto; Pair A Dice (2019), at Cassandra Cassandra, Toronto; and The Morning Shines With The Lights Of Love (2017), at Clint Roenisch Gallery, Toronto. Her work has also been presented by Projet Pangée at The Armory Show (New York) in 2021, and at Material Art Fair (Mexico) in 2017. She has participated in two residencies in 2021: Casa Balandra Artist Residency, Mallorca (Spain) and Artist in Residence, PM/AM, London (UK). Her work can be found in collections such as the Equitable Bank (Toronto) and the RBC Corporate Collection (Toronto). Her paintings have been featured in numerous magazines and publications such as esse arts + opinions (2021); Minka Magazine (2020); Teen Vogue (2019); Milk (2018); Artspace (2017); and Canadian Art (2017).

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2023 Marne Repulse, Pangée

2022 Aquarian Music, Pangée

2021 Armory Show, New York

2021 Although the Wind, Projet Pangée

Painting to Vivaldi with Darby Milbrath: Musik in Motion [vidéo]

Super NYC - Darby Milbrath

Althought de Wind de Darby Milbrath - Esse

Artist Darby Milbrath Collaborated With Celine on an Embroidered Bomber Jacket - Teen Vogue