Myles de Bastion
He // Him // His, They // Them // Theirs
Technical Artist, Musician, and Creative Altruist
Portland, Oregon

Photo by Sam Gehrke.
“My work fixates itself on unanswered questions: How can we further leverage technology to make art more accessible? How can we foster greater understanding and empathy through inclusive art experiences? These are the driving forces of my professional life, and they inspire me to continue pushing the boundaries of what is possible in accessible art.”
Myles de Bastion is a technical artist and disability rights advocate known for creating immersive, sensory-substitution art installations and experiences centered on themes of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility.
As the Founder and Artistic Director of CymaSpace, a non-profit that facilitates arts and cultural events for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing, de Bastion spearheads the Sign Language Cafe — a cultural and networking hub for Deaf and disabled professionals — and the Northwest Deaf Arts Festival. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his work pivoted towards virtual and mixed reality (VR/XR) events and projects.
As a bilingual communicator in English and American Sign Language, de Bastion honed his creative technical skills through fellowships and residencies with Epic Games, Open Signal, and the Portland Institute for Contemporary Arts (PICA). He is also a technical consultant to Gallaudet University's Motion Light Lab, which explores Sign Language technology in academia funded by the National Science Foundation.
He has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Oregon Community Foundation / Oregon Humanities Fields Artist Fellowship, the ArtMatters Foundation, the Regional Arts & Culture Council, the Oregon Arts Commission, and the Oregon Cultural Trust. He is currently building the Ikigai Machine, an inclusive puzzle room featuring tactile props and non-verbal storytelling for DeafBlind patrons. As a Deaf entrepreneur with progressive vision loss, de Bastion is uniquely qualified to create inclusive virtual and physical experiences for Deaf, disabled, and non-disabled audiences that push the boundaries of accessible art and technology.
Donor -This award was generously supported by The Ford Family Foundation.
This artist page was last updated on: 01.30.2025
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