Richard van der Aa lives and works in Paris, France.
Born in Ōtautahi - Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1963, he graduated from the University of Canterbury in 1985, the same year he held his first solo exhibition at the C.S.A. Gallery in Christchurch. Since then, his work has been exhibited extensively in Australia, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Poland, the UK, and the USA.
Van der Aa's reductive paintings explore the tension between painting and sculpture, as well as the relationship between object and image.
This residency was specifically aimed at preparing for his first exhibition in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, and his first show in Aotearoa, New Zealand, since moving abroad in 1988.
