Eve Chayes Lyman

Artist Statement

My art is deeply emotional in nature - responding to the world around and within me in a personal way.  The inspiration for much of my work is found in the figure, with its infinite capacity to express and embody the complexity of what it means to be human. As a documentary photographer, my work also focuses on people, often those I meet as I travel, people who live lives difficult for us to imagine. I am moved by the suffering that each of us encounters in our sojourn here, and inspired by the transcendence of the human spirit which is so often a response to that suffering. Joy and pain are joined and juxtaposed.

Making art is a journey into the unknown. I find that every genuine act of self expression is an act of courage. My art expresses a passion for the humanness I have discovered in people from all walks of life, in all corners of the globe. As the world becomes increasingly polarized and destructive, my work carries a thread of the common humanity that runs through us all.

I regard art making as a sacred trust.  As a world, we need art - to touch something in us we might not otherwise have found, to awake something perhaps dormant, to open our eyes and allow us to see freshly. As Picasso once said: "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life".   We need art to remind ourselves of our own humanity. I know I do.

Eve Chayes Lyman is an artist, documentary photographer, videographer and activist. She is based in Los Angeles, but considers herself a citizen of the world. She graduated from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (SMFA) in 2014. Her fine art can be seen at www.EveLyman.com and her photography can be viewed at www.theeyeofthebeholder.net 

www.EveLyman.com