Eileen Arnow-Levine

The Wicked Hand of Fate, 2014
Handmade Book/Box: Digital Printing & Mixed Media, silk book cloth, blue and silver speckled paper, gold hand painted rice paper, acrylic paint, Sculpey modeling clay, digitally printed, 3.9 x 2.4 x 1.75 inches, Edition of 2. $350  

  

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Statement

Dr. Woffenbacher’s Realistic Replacement Eyes is a fictitious sample case of prosthetic eyes. The box of eyes was designed to simulate a Victorian artifact retrieved from the days of traveling medicine shows and quackery. Upon the lid is a tromp l’oeil illustration with a false perspective meant to trick the eye. The illustration points a floating eye hinting of the box’s contents. Inside the box are four different colored fake glass eyes to choose from. There is also a miniature accordion book of instructions for the insertion and removal of a prosthetic eye. Imagery of disembodied eyes conjures up feelings of horror and dread. Although the box is meant as a satirical medical artifact, it is also meant to play upon a macabre sensibility or the creep factor. Dr. Woffenbacher’s Realistic Replacement Eyes is also about emptiness; the emptiness that comes from losing of a part of oneself, whether physical or emotional. The replacement eyes can fill the gap of an empty eye socket and give the person the appearance of being whole. However the eye will never see and that part of the person will always be lost.

The Bunnies Knew Better is a book that follows the lives of the fictional Wolff family from the late 19th century to the mid 20th century. The story is told from the standpoint of fraternal twin Anna sharing significant parts of her life with her twin brother Oswald. The inspiration of the book was a 19th century family album with slit corners for photos and handwritten captions. The script style captions reveal pivotal moments of Anna’s life in a disjointed manner, much like the way one interjects random remarks while waxing nostalgic. The story rapidly shifts back and forth between humorous and morose anecdotes mimicking the ups and downs of life and the passing of time. The Bunnies Knew Better echoes underlying themes Eileen previously visited in The Family Name. The book’s design and illustrations are in landscape format, which further lend to the sensation of thumbing through an old album. The Bunnies Knew Better was conceived during the years that Eileen was a caretaker for both of her parents. Many of the ideas were observations of her parents’ struggles with illness and aging. It is dedicated in their memory.

Biography

Eileen earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from SUNY Purchase in 1984, where she majored in Drawing and Painting. She is currently employed full-time as a graphic designer. Since 1987, Eileen has been creating artists’ books that she writes, illustrates, self-publishes and hand binds. An early interest in children’s books made a lasting impression on how Eileen perceives and represents the world. In creating her artists books, she tries to emulate the look and feel of children’s books while also tackling issues that are more adult in nature. Her subject matter tends to be on the dark side, often dealing with death or life’s cruelties. She enjoys the contrast between black and white, beauty and ugliness, sadness and humor and uses dualism as a means to find balance within her work. Eileen is an artist member of The Center for Book Arts. The handmade edition of The Child With A Bent Spine is featured in 1000 Artists’ Books, a coffee table book about artists’ books. Her books are part of The Museum of Modern Art/Franklin Furnace Artists’ Books Collection and have been included in exhibitions and collections worldwide.

Eileen Arnow-Levine Website