Derya Akay
Derya Akay (b. 1988) is an artist living in Frankfurt, Germany.
Akay is an interdisciplinary artist who poetically interprets cooking as a metaphor. They explore the tension between preservation and decay, control and chance, trial and error. Their artistic strategies embrace the realities of time and transformation using organic materials. Dumpster diving, recalling dreams, hacking and pirating, alley walks and studying weeds also contribute to her process-based practice.
In 2023, Derya was the Stonecroft Artist-in-Residence at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen’s University in Kingston. Their recent exhibitions include Flowers from a Story, Unit 17, 2024; The Willful Plot, Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, 2023; What Water Knows, the Land Remembers, Toronto Biennial of Art, 2022; Meydan, Polygon Gallery, North Vancouver; Contact Traces, Wattis Institute at the California College of the Arts, San Francisco, both 2021; The Lulennial II: A Low-Hanging Fruit, Lulu, Mexico City, 2018; HERE, Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, 2017; Ambivalent Pleasures, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2016. They received a BFA from Emily Carr University in 2010 and is currently a guest student at Städelschule in Frankfurt, Germany.
Exhibitions
Fruit and Flower (2020)
Flowers from a Story (2024)
Writing & Press
Publications
a flower as a poem (2016)
Ghost Spring (2018)
Mantı, Börek, Baklava (2019)

Installation view, Left: Seyyar (eskici), 2021. Wood, bicycle parts, seasonal toppings. Right: Queer Dowry, 2022
What Water Knows, the Land Remembers, Toronto Biennial 2022
Photographer: Toni Hafkenscheid

Installation view, Queer Dowry, What Water Knows, the Land Remembers, Toronto Biennial, 2022
Photographer: Toni Hafkenscheid

Installation view, What Water Knows, the Land Remembers, Toronto Biennial, 2022
Photographer: Toni Hafkenscheid

Installation view, Meydan, Polygon Gallery, 2021
Rachel Topham Photography

Installation view, Meydan, Polygon Gallery, 2021
Rachel Topham Photography

Installation view, Meydan, Polygon Gallery, 2021
Rachel Topham Photography

Installation view, Meydan, Polygon Gallery, 2021
Rachel Topham Photography

Installation view, Meydan, Polygon Gallery, 2021
Rachel Topham Photography

Installation view, Meydan, Polygon Gallery, 2021
Rachel Topham Photography

Installation view, Queer Dowry, What Water Knows, the Land Remembers, Toronto Biennial, 2022
Photographer: Toni Hafkenscheid

Fallen fruit (Santa Barbara Market, Vancouver), 2018
installation view, Lulu (Mexico City)
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Plexi Lath, 2017, plexi, acrylic, plaster, cedar, 101.6 x 80cm

Plexi Lath, 2017 (detail)

Plexi Lath, 2017 (detail)

Belvedere Lath, 2016-17, wood, plaster, paint, rose petals, amaryllis, borage, turmeric, sumac, paprika, 101.6 x 80cm

Belvedere Lath, 2016/17 (detail)

Green Grocer, installation view Unit 17 2018

Green Grocer, installation view Unit 17 2018

Green Grocer, installation view Unit 17 2018

Green Grocer, installation view Unit 17 2018
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Green Grocer, installation view Unit 17 2018
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Green Grocer, installation view Unit 17 2018
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Green Grocer, installation view Unit 17 2018
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Green Grocer, installation view Unit 17 2018

Green Grocer, installation view Unit 17 2018

Green Grocer, installation view Unit 17 2018

cyclodrum, courage, bread, and rosesculture and tomatoes, 2015-16
installation view, Vancouver Art Gallery

cyclodrum, courage, bread, and rosesculture and tomatoes, 2015-16
installation view, Vancouver Art Gallery

with bread, , installation view, Campbell River Art Gallery

with bread, (detail)

with bread, , installation view, Campbell River Art Gallery

with bread, (detail)

with bread, (detail)

with bread, (detail)

with bread, (detail)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, installation view, Centre A (Vancouver)