Saskatchewan Artist

Aganetha Dyck

Aganetha Dyck was born in 1937 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was raised in a nearby rural Mennonite community. She moved to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, in 1972, where she studied drawing and art history at Prince Albert Community College (1974-1976). She later studied art history at the University of Winnipeg (1980-1982). In her art-making, however, Dyck is primarily self-taught.

Dyck's sculptural work is informed by her interest in environmental issues, everyday objects, and the concept of women's work. Dyck has used a variety of media, including wool, felt, and cigarette butts, but has gathered attention since 1990 for her work with live honeybees. Dyck has researched bees through art residencies in Canada, France, and the UK, including a ten-year residency (1990-2000) in Winnipeg. Dyck works collaboratively with the bees, arranging objects in an apiary while the bees create honeycomb structures.

Dyck's first solo show was held at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1976. Since, her work has been shown across Canada, including at the National Gallery of Canada (2002), and in France and England. In 1995, the Winnipeg Art Gallery organized a major touring retrospective of Dyck's work. Recently, Dyck has also collaborated with her son, photographer Richard Dyck, on exhibitions that involved placing photographic scanners into beehives. These exhibitions have taken place at DeLeon White Gallery in Toronto and at the Michael Gibson Gallery in London, Ontario.

Dyck's work is represented in numerous collections, including the Canada Council Art Bank (Ottawa), National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa), Winnipeg Art Gallery, Dunlop Art Gallery (Regina), Saskatchewan Arts Board, Vancouver Art Gallery, Glenbow Museum (Calgary), Concordia University (Montreal), Yorkshire Sculpture Park (Britain), Passages centre d'art, (France), as well as many private collections.

Dyck lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where she has long been involved with the Manitoba Arts Council, receiving the Manitoba Arts Council Award of Distinction in 2006. In 2007, she was awarded the Governor General's Medal in Visual and Media Arts. Dyck is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.