Myra Eastman was born in Los Angeles, California and has lived in Santa Cruz, California for fifty years. She is the 2019 recipient of the Santa Cruz County Rydell Fellowship which helps individual visual artists pursue their creative work and are made solely on the merits of their artistry and not tied to the completion of any specific projects. In addition her work has been featured at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Museum Educado Carrillo, and Monterey Peninsula College. She was invited to the Santo Foundation’s 2019 10th Anniversary Invitational Exhibition held at Webster University in Saint Luis, MO. She has work in the Catamaran Literary Reader, American Art Collector and Studio Visit. Her paintings have recently been purchased by the Contra Costa Medical Center to be a part of their “Resilience Project” permanent collection.
Artist Statement
I am a narrative painter whose work is grounded in political and social narratives. Narrative devices are used to humanize our common humanity and dignity.
As grounded as my work is in political and social narratives, it is equally critical that my paintings are aesthetically compelling. It is not enough to tell a great story. The painting has to work-holding disparate vignettes together. Color, shape, and pattern are used to help integrate the composition. In addition, I love to imbue the work with an ironically cheerful color palette, challenging the viewer to move beyond the carnival-like colors to discover the underlying conceptual underpinnings of the work. The viewer often must sit with the paintings a bit and ponder what is in front of you.
