b. 1966, Poland / Toronto

An artist originating from Poland, Kinga Araya has lived and worked in Ottawa, Toronto and Montréal since 1990. She has participated in several installation exhibitions, video festivals and performance events in Canada and abroad. Her most recent work addresses the themes of travel and communication. She attempts to examine her nomadic and evolving identity, usually in the context of geopolitical/cultural issues. Questions such as, “Who am I?” and “Why am I where I am?” make up her artistic language. “The phenomenon of walking ad talking in between diverse cultures, countries and languages became a condition sine qua non of my artistic practice. I often question my belonging to one group or the other I encounter during my journeys. How much of my ‘self’ is still ‘Polish’ and how much has already become ‘Canadian’? I believe that the driving force behind my art works lies in an impossible desire to be in total control of who I am and who I would like to become.”