Alexandrya Eaton
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SINGLE FLOWER MAGENTA |
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SINGLE FLOWER PINK |
SINGLE FLOWER RED |
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HAPPY BOUQUET
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YOUNG WOMAN WALKING
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PINK BUSY WOMAN |
PINK BLOSSOMS IN GREY |
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BRIGHT BOUQUET WITH SUNFLOWER |
SINGLE RED STEM |
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WOMAN DREAMING
SUPERWOMAN
Nikki speaks with artist Alexandrya Eaton before her exhibit opening on Friday, April 15,
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WOMAN IN LIGHTS
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WOMAN AT NIGHT |
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The “Busy Woman” series began as an exploration into self-identity, yet evolved over time into a playful social commentary on the idea of a modern everyday superwoman. Female silhouettes figure prominently and examine the idea of a ‘woman being’, a female figure rushing to keep up to the expectations placed on her in today’s society. The paintings document a contemporary woman’s attempt to come to terms with typical female roles, and her constant renegotiation of relationships and other elements in her surroundings. Much of the work is inspired by the inexplicable lure and yet unattainable beauty found in fashion magazines. The repeated stencilled outline of the anonymous female icon facilitates my fascination with the repetition of images; the use of multiple images strengthens the painted representation of identity. The paintings are not portraits. The stencilled images become a vocabulary, presenting possibilities of characters, building a metaphor of a realistic situation. This way of working, slowly building up layers of colour, is a very female way of working, not unlike other traditionally women’s ways of making things, such as crocheting, knitting, quilting and rug hooking. It’s about adding incrementally and in a positive way. Denying feminist twists, the work ultimately presents a positive, fresh and hopeful outlook of our surrounding world. Alexandrya Eaton, 2011 |
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WOMAN DANCING
LADIES |
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WOMAN ON THE EDGE
SINGLE WOMAN |
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The artist gratefully acknowledges the support of
SUNSET
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FRIEND |
SUMMER |
DEEP PURPLE |
ORANGE POPPIES |
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GETTING SOME AIR |
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RUNNING BOY |
DANCING AT SUNSET |
RED WITH TWO BLUES |
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RED BLOSSOMS IN BLUE VASE
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SOLO
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Alexandrya Eaton, a painter, was born in 1969, in Moncton, New Brunswick. In 1991, she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art, from Mount Allison University, in Sackville, New Brunswick. Determined to paint full time, she returned to Moncton to set up studio in the Centre Culturel Aberdeen, where she worked alongside prominent Acadian artists Yvon Gallant, Nancy Morin and the late Guy Duguay. Heavily influenced by this tightly knit artistic community, Eaton realized the significance of staying in New Brunswick to pursue her career. In 1992, Eaton was selected to participate in the “Symposium de la Jeune Peinture au Canada”, in Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec. The youngest of fifteen international artists, her large twentyfoot painting then traveled to the Museum of the Americas, in Washington, D.C., for the exhibition, Terre-Terre, later that same year. In 1995, Eaton was invited to take part in Acacia Gallery’s three-month artist-in-residence program, in Gagetown, New Brunswick, which resulted in a solo exhibition. And in 1996, she traveled to Newfoundland, on the invitation of the Pouch Cove Visiting Artist Residency Program, for a one-month residency and a solo exhibition. Throughout her career, Alexandrya has had more than twenty-five solo exhibitions of her work. Her paintings hang in numerous collections, both private and public, across Canada, the United States, Europe, Bermuda and Jamaica. She has received many project grants to continue the development of her work. In 2000, she accepted the invitation to take part in the studio residency program at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, in Fredericton, which coincided with the Atlantic Art Exhibition, Artists in a Floating World, curated by Tom Smart. Eaton’s paintings have been included in several important group exhibitions, such as: Anecdotes and Enigmas, curated by Hermenegilde Chiasson, in 1996, which traveled across Canada; and BLISS, curated by Shauna McCabe. In 2002, at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, BLISS combined the work of four international artists exploring the image and idea of flowers and flowering, and its relationship to the poetic, questioning modern perceptions of beauty. Alexandrya Eaton’s work has been purchased by: the New Brunswick Art Bank; RBC Dominion Securities; Aliant Telecom; Nesbitt Burns; NB Power; Purdy’s Wharf Inc.; the UNB Art Centre; Toronto Dominion Bank; and the Masterworks Foundation in Bermuda, among many other public and corporate collections. Eaton continues to work in a very physical way, painting quickly and on the floor. Her recent inclusion of such tools as rollers, tape and handmade stencils facilitate her fascination with the repetition of images. Currently Eaton’s work is focused on a “woman being”, offering a playful perspective on the attempt to come to terms with typical female roles. Alexandrya gratefully acknowledges the support of artsnb by way of a project grant in 2009 to further develop her work. Eaton believes that as an artist it is her responsibility to give back to her community. Over the years, she has donated many paintings, in particular to hospitals, cancer care centers and children’s charities. Alexandrya lives in Fredericton with her husband and two young daughters. |
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DARK RED TULIPS
BOUQUET
BIG RED |
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MASS OF BLOOMS #1 |
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ONE YELLOW FOUR RED
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MASS OF BLOOMS #2 |
