I am a visual artist and designer living in Toronto, Canada. A graduate of both the Ontario College of Art (A.O.C.A. 1992) and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (B.F.A. 1993), I have applied my skills in many areas, including new media, and have successfully operated a freelance digital design business Collective Gasp since 1997.

I love drawing, painting, and computers. And it is my hope that you will see evidence of this here at werdna.org.

For further information, please contact me directly: andrew@werdna.org

> Click to view Andrew Duff CV < (will open in new window).

back to top

Werdna.org is a showcase for the art works of Andrew Duff. A place for me and my drawings. And paintings, and terra cotta pots... oh, and an online store too! For now it is a place for showing my still images, but I hope to soon add interactive pieces as well... old and new.

The name Werdna is actually just Andrew written backwards. Does this mean Werdna is the mirror image of me, the true image of my "self," the reflection I hope the world to see? Well, no. Simply put... andrew.com is owned by a software company, and andrew.org is taken too. In the end, I just thought werdna.org was kinda cool.

back to top

Issues of self-identity, gender and class have been areas I have explored throughout my work to date. I have found that all these areas often relate back to each other, as identity reflects on social class, which in turn affects power, and eventually reinforces self-identity. These issues are of particular interest to me when this internal/external struggle takes place within the political minefield of technology and business.

The hierarchy, or pecking order, in an environment overloaded with technological expectations adds another layer to the identity/class/power struggle. I have attempted to question the technology-versus-human subject in my work by showing that neither is infallible. The systems created for the business and politics of technology are all executed by people. And I see people, myself included, as being wonderfully imperfect. Human beings are at the heart of technology, and it is our risk of losing self-identity that I continue to investigate.

Drawing has been at the base of all the work I have done, and the immediacy of this mark making is what challenges me to continue. I use a fluid, loose approach to create a stylized version of reality, which allows me to explore the effects of surface (vellum, plywood, computer screen) and instrument (pencil, brush, drawing software) on theme.

The energy of drawing and of “trying to find the line” brings out the exploratory nature of my themes. The imperfect line drawn by hand brings form to the suggested reality I am investigating. I continually strive to use new and traditional technologies to refine my drawing approach, and happily incorporate various media in my search for an authentic visual language.

back to top