Danny Eastwood (1943-)  was born in Sydney and lived in the Eora Tribal area until he was thirteen. Raised in Waterloo, his mum was Ngambri, from Brewarrina. As a child, he travelled between Sydney and Brewarrina regularly.

An accomplished artist he sculpts, paints and carves and launched a very popular commercial apparel range in the 90s.

 

Danny was NSW Aboriginal Artist of the year in 1992 & in 1993 won the National Aboriginal Artist of the year award. He received 1st prize in the NSW Parliament Award and the NAIDOC Poster Award. 

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Danny has exhibited at Blacktown City Gallery, Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative, The Powerhouse Museum, Karlanu Aboriginal Art Gallery in Pitt Street and has been commissioned by local councils in Sydney to create murals in Southern Sydney and Parramatta. In addition to having International Art Exhibitions with paintings being sold to buyers from England, Germany, Spain, Argentine, Portugal, China and Vietnam. 

 

Danny is responsible for building and making a war memorial to Aboriginal Servicemen that is used at the Cenotaph yearly. Danny also teaches visual art in schools and prisons throughout N.S.W. He believes strongly in using his art to help others and he visits Sydney’s major prisons – Long Bay and Park Lea Correctional Centres.

In 2008, Danny won the Parliament of New South Wales Indigenous Art Prize with his entry 'My Reconciliation', a pen, ink and watercolour work on paper, depicting a scene from the back lane he grew up in as a small boy in inner Sydney. 

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A longtime cartoonist, Danny began working for the Koori Mail in the early 1990s, touching subjects and content that weren't seen in mainstream newspapers and depicting issues that are relevant for Aboriginal people.

 

“If you look at the ways non-Indigenous cartoonists portray black people we are presented as golliwog people carrying spears and boomerangs and downcast all the time. They draw us as a backward race. My cartoons show Aboriginal people as they really are – we are modern and achieve in all walks of life,” he says.

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Many of Danny’s cartoons have captured the political issues over the years and are an excellent source of historical record. A good cartoon, Danny believes, is one that allows the reader to see both sides of the story: “You will see the political and the humour all in one, or vice versa, you see the political and the serious side of things. It’s about getting people to see the truth.”

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Danny now lives in the Dahrug Tribal area of Western Sydney.