41W x 30.5H x 2D" 

Oil, Charcoal, Paper, Nails, & Resin on Canvas, Framed

Christi Meril

Artist Statement:

For Christi Meril, “East of Here” often means home. 

When she is west of Dallas, she may be among her beloved Colorado Rockies, in the high desert around Santa Fe, or along the Northern California coast near Mendocino, San Francisco, and Carmel. She takes in the light, the space, and the energy of those places, knowing that eventually she will travel east again. “East of Here” holds the feeling of being fully present somewhere beautiful while knowing home is waiting in another direction. 

Bands of color stretch across the painting like a wide sky. Through its center, Meril’s hand-shaped paper, nails, and resin form a dark, raised passage that brings the texture and density of the city into view. Oil and acrylic move around it, while charcoal from a Ghost Ranch campfire carries a physical trace of New Mexico into the work. The colors and shadows shift as you move closer. 

The painting belongs to both parts of that journey. The landscapes Meril loves stay with her when she returns to Dallas, and her life at home is never far away while she is out in the world. “East of Here” is about the places that restore us and the place we return to, each becoming part of how we understand the other.