Born in Amsterdam, Holland in 1956, Roy van der Aa grew up in Montreal, Canada. His formal education includes 2 years of Fine Art specialty at John Abbott College, and 3 years at Concordia University studying printmaking and archaeology. He ran Zones, an artists co-op in the warehouse district in Montreal for 8 years. He moved to the US in 1989. He is a founding member of ArtForms, the sponsoring organization for Las Cruces’ annual Love of Art celebration.

He has had over 118 solo, 2 person, and group shows. He has exhibited throughout the southwest United States and Quebec in Canada. His work can be seen at RioBravoFineArt in Truth or Consequences and Agave Artists Co-operative Gallery in Mesilla. He has also shown at Gallery 408 in Carrizozo, Collectibles 4U in Tularosa and Art Obscura, Unsettled Gallery and Glenn Cutter in Las Cruces. His hand pulled prints were featured at Iris and Shriek in Amsterdam in 2018 accompanying those by Miró, Chagall and Picasso. He also participated in the premiere exhibit of the Hiatus collective in London in September 2019.