darylina powderface, a proud member of the stoney nakoda and blackfoot nations, was born in mohkinstsis (calgary, ab) and raised on the morley and siksika nation reserve within treaty 7 territory.

her artistic journey began in 2012 at the vancouver institute of media arts (vanarts), where she enrolled in the acting for film & television program. building on this foundation, she continued her studies at simon fraser university (sfu), graduating from the theatre performance program with a bachelor of fine arts degree in 2020.

in 2014, darylina made her debut on screen as francine in cbc's arctic air, followed by a principal role on carnival films' jamestown, filmed in budapest, hungary, in 2017.

from 2018 to 2020, darylina played pivotal roles at the arts council of new westminster, contributing significantly to art and music programs like the new west cultural crawl and the uptown unplugged series. her affiliation with the savage production society deepened during this time, supporting her growth in digital media and facilitating her podcast series, aiysiniiksin: keeping the tradition alive. she explored filmmaking as a camera operator for various projects, including aptn's web series querencia.

darylina's dedication to the arts included key events like the 2 rivers remix festival and moveable feast, and full circle: first nations performance 20th anniversary of the talking stick festival. she honed her camera operation and editing skills, leading to a pivotal role in producing, writing, directing, filming and editing a food sovereignty documentary series with full circle that further refined her expertise as a storyteller.

beyond her artistic pursuits, darylina is dedicated to youth engagement. she organized the native youth program at the museum of anthropology in 2016 and conducted theatre workshops for youth at the ray-cam community centre in collaboration with leaky heaven performance, culminating in the dream machine project in 2021. she has taught acting and devised theatre at vanarts and the gateway theatre summer program and led family engagement workshops in hope, bc, in 2023.

in 2022, darylina was awarded a scholarship by the first peoples' cultural council and a grant from the city of vancouver. with the support of savage society, this funded her filmmaking mentorship with visual artist and filmmaker sky hopinka (ho-chunk nation/pechanga band of luiseño indians) in brooklyn, ny, where she now resides.

most recently, darylina performed in spiderwoman theatre's "misdemeanor dream," touring south dakota and minnesota. she participated in a residency with safe harbors nyc at adelphi university, facilitated by new york theatre workshop, advancing the production of "feasts of ghosts," culminating in a performance on governors island, ny.

Most recently, Darylina began her studies at Columbia University School of the Arts, in the MFA Visual Arts program, specializing in Moving Images. She was also selected for Barnard College’s Movement Lab Artist-in-Residence program, which has allowed her to advance her exploration of the relationship between movement and media, allowing her to investigate the ways in which movement can transform visual narratives, that expand her creative practice through mentorship and guidance from the Movement Lab staff and professors at Barnard College.