In the Pink by Alexandrya Eaton

Artist Statement

In "In the Pink", Alexandrya Eaton takes us on a kaleidoscopic journey of saturated colour and light. Of this new body of work, Eaton says, “I’ve had a lot of fun revisiting this imagery with a new appreciation and understanding of flowers and how they have come to represent the matrilineal lines in my family. Colour, form, and gesture reflect deeper emotional states, echoing the world inside of me. I bring forth a new joy and enthusiasm in these paintings which reflect and resonate with feelings of love, care, and home.”.

Eaton’s masterful balance of form, space and harmony is immediately evident. Colours are magnified. There is a profound sense of gratitude in the blooms, which remind us of the beauty and fragility that surrounds us all.

With a career spanning over 30 years, Alexandrya Eaton has had over fifty solo exhibitions, participated in numerous group exhibitions, and is part of many important private and public collections nationally and internationally. Eaton recently completed her Master of Fine Arts through Emily Carr University of Art and Design and is currently pursuing PhD studies in the Faculty of Fine Art, at Concordia University.

Biography

Alexandrya Eaton has had more than thirty solo exhibitions of her work; her paintings hang in numerous private and public collections across Canada, the United States, Europe, Bermuda and Jamaica.

Early in her career, Eaton was invited to participate in the “Symposium de la Jeune Peinture au Canada”, in Baie- Saint-Paul, Quebec. The youngest of fifteen international artists, her large twenty-foot painting then travelled to the exhibition, TERRE-TERRE, at the Museum of the Americas, in Washington, D.C.

Over the years, Eaton’s paintings have been included in several important group exhibitions, such as: Anecdotes and Enigmas, curated by Herménégilde Chiasson; and BLISS, curated by Shauna McCabe. 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.

In 2012, Alexandrya was invited to participate in HOT POP SOUP: Neo-Pop Trends in Contemporary New Brunswick Art, a group exhibition at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. Curator, Terry Graff, brought together the work of ten New Brunswick artists working within the realm and influence of Pop Art. Eaton’s resulting work, “Superhero Warehouse”, confirmed themes in her work, an ongoing series titled “Busy Woman”, a modern interpretation on the idea of an everyday superwoman.

Her recent collection of work, "Becoming", inspired by her grandmother and incorporating both painting and rug hooking, resulted in a large body of work and a solo traveling exhibition which was shown at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in 2018, Sunbury Shores Arts and Nature Centre in 2019, and traveled to the Saint John Arts Centre in 2021. A retrospective of her work “Everything in Between” including a coffee table book was featured at the Owens Art Gallery in Sackville in 2021.

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; Atlantic Lottery Corporation; Centre d’Art de Baie-Saint-Paul; and the Masterworks Foundation Bermuda, among many other public and corporate collections.

Family Ties - an article about one of Alexandrya Eaton's projects is featured in the 2017 Spring issue of Billie, written by Christina Thomson.