Background
Eastman was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the United Kingdom to South African parents. He returned to South Africa at a young age and grew up in Johannesburg and Cape Town, where he is based.
Eastman was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the United Kingdom to South African parents. He returned to South Africa at a young age and grew up in Johannesburg and Cape Town, where he is based.
Eastman is best known for a distinctive monochromatic style. Images held in shallow relief depictions remain nearly invisible until the spectator is positioned correctly for light to throw the images into relief, reflecting changing tone and colour. This technique was probably most successfully used in his monumental “Horse”, 2005.
In 2007, Eastman presented "Supernature" at Cape Town gallery whatiftheworld.
The naturalistic, rich and startling large-scale series of enamel and acrylic paintings on aluminium sheets, depicted the portraits of various owl species relating to themes of superstition and luck. In 2010, Eastman exhibited a series of black portraits at Primo Marella gallery in Milan, Italy Curated by Yacouba Konaté.
Later that year the work was auctioned at Phillips de Pury in New New York In 2014 Eastman presented "Deep Chine", an exhibition of atmospheric, contemplative and ambient forest-scapes.
Based on photographs from his family farm, Eastman disassembles the image and reconstitutes it to form an entirely new picture which bears a vague semblance to the original, but for the viewer there is an uncanny familiarity and connection to the content, which is suffused with opaque moods and dreamlike memory.