DVAA Member since 2023

Derek Ayres

About:

Derek Ayres was born and raised in Houston, Texas. He is now a visual artist whose wide-ranging studio practice spans drawing, painting, sculpture, digital art, and watercolor. Focused on both craft and concept, he produces objects and images that mix realism and irony while layering metaphors and symbols informed by his upbringing in American suburbia. His work offers the viewer a portal into themes of subversion, isolation, nature, performance, wonder, beauty, and redemption. He received an MFA from Columbia University in New York City, and his past exhibitions have included group and solo shows in London, Berlin, New York, and Philadelphia. Most recently, Derek curated the group exhibition Best Laid Plans for the 2023 Philadelphia Fringe Festival and is thrilled to be in anticipation of a month-long residency at DVAA in February 2024.

Artist Statement:

At the moment, I am trying to reconcile memories and conditioning of a wide-open, rock 'n' roll 70's upbringing with the realities of being an artist, husband, and dad in 2023 through layered allegorical paintings.