Dana Holst (b.1972, Canada) is an Edmonton, Alberta based artist who received her B. A. in Fine Arts from the University of Waterloo in 1995. Working primarily in figurative painting and drawing, her work is an ongoing investigation into the human experience, focusing on the feminine self and it’s nebulous place within society. Holst creates theatrical and speculative narratives around the emotional lives of young women, who are depicted in the process of building their identities, discovering their sexuality and learning about the world. Using portraiture as a catalyst, Holst’s girls are caught in situations of import and fate, where dark social secrets are explored with ambiguous outcomes offering further opportunity to navigate from a place of innocence to deeper understanding.