Nadia Da Silva

Nadia Da Silva works through shifting terrains of identity, culture and faith, approaching these themes not as fixed ideas but as unstable forces that continually re-shape the self. Their practice traces what it means to inhabit a feminine body within structures that attempt to define or contain it, treating the body as both an intimate archive and a contested site.

 

Born in Portugal and raised in Canada, Silva channels this duality into charged, atmospheric compositions. Using oil, oil pastel and ink on found surfaces, they allow conflict, memory and displacement to fracture and re-form through layered marks. Rather than offering resolution, their work stays suspended - a field of tension where meaning remains unsettled, shifting into a world just beyond reach.

 

Nadia Da Silva holds a Master's degree in Painting from the Royal College of Art, London, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting with a minor in Illustration and Gender and Sexuality Studies from OCAD University, Toronto. They are the recipient of the Fred Hagan Passion in Painting Award, a prestigious Canadian prize recognizing exceptional dedication and promise in the medium of painting, as well as the Format 2025 Website Career Launcher Prize. Their work has been exhibited in Canada and the UK across more than fifteen solo and group exhibitions. Selected exhibitions include Untold, AMP Gallery, London (2026); Nadia Da Silva: Other Mary, MCA Gallery, Toronto (2025); Racing Horses, GradEx 110, OCAD University, Toronto (2025); and Cave to Creatures, Ada Slaight Gallery, Toronto (2025).