Dejv Mutnjakovic
Dejv Mutnjakovic was born on the border between Canada and the United States, between the cities of Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan. He is the son of a refugee from Eastern Europe and an Irish poet, resulting in a singular and imaginative persona. At the age of 13, Dave was diagnosed with a chronic illness that nearly took his life, but he recovered and lived a spontaneous existence that sent him travelling around the world living fully. Reaching his limit in Tasmania, he returned to his roots in Montreal, a city that provided him with love, experiences, and space to create with a passion akin to dancing with abandon. He has since accumulated over 3,000 drawings, writings, and visual animations, which uniquely document his personal, physical, and mystical journey.
Dave specializes in developing art communities within public and independent schools, particularly with neurodivergent youth and children, and people overcoming medical problems. His art exhibitions across Canada and Europe have awakened awareness of social taboos including mental illness, isolation, and the complexity of trauma. His guiding principle is that trauma empowers creation and believes that through one's understanding of trauma, one naturally develops empathy towards those who experience injustice.
