Eileen Hoffman

Biography

Sculptor and installation artist Eileen Hoffman makes visible the hidden stories of women's lives, including her own, while grappling with sexism. Born and raised in New Jersey, she grew up in an overtly pink bedroom that significantly impacted much of her work. She recalls being captivated by all forms of textile work and learning how to knit from her friends' mothers. Her path continued by mastering embroidery and taking weaving and design programs throughout high school. She graduated with honors from Skidmore College with a B.S. in art and continued on for three years as a textile designer with an A.A.S. from the Fashion Institute of Technology. Afterward, she focused on fine arts and received her MFA in textiles and sculpture from Indiana University, investigating the three-dimensional possibilities of textile methods.

Her work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows throughout the United States and internationally, including in New York City at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Art and Design Gallery, Atlantic Gallery, Carter Burden Gallery, and Denise Bibro Fine Art. Nationally at the Pelham Art Center, Pelham, NY, CAMP Gallery, Miami, Fl, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL, Ely Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT, Islip Art Museum, East Islip, NY, Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ. Internationally at the U.S. Embassy in Hong Kong and the Bishkek Collection, Russia. Hoffman’s outdoor installations in New York include the Connective Project Installation, Art In Odd Places, and Prayers for the Pandemic - Prayers for Progress. Her work is also featured in Surface Design Journal’s SDA Annual International Exhibition in Print, UPPERCASE magazine, Art Spiel, and Les Femmes Folles. Hoffman lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Artist statement

My textile paintings and sculptural installations intertwine storytelling with textile traditions and gendered histories. I layer pattern, imagery, and text on clear vinyl, stitching them together with a barbed red line that serves as both a seam and an expression of defiance.

I often felt invisible when I was young and would sit quietly with people, knitting or embroidering, while observing the dynamics between women and men. I began to feel that my hands were recording what I noticed and what I couldn’t yet express. That quiet practice led me to center women’s voices in my work and to challenge the structures that have long kept them in the shadows.

I work primarily in pink and red tones, referencing their overuse as symbols of oppressive notions of femininity. The text I use in my work appears as a pattern from a distance, but as you get closer words begin to emerge. These writings are taken from personal diaries, current events, and the fairy tales that shaped my childhood. Patterns and motifs made with contemporary materials echo the American woven textiles and fabric designs. The repetition in both the patterns and my fabrication of them amplify memory and the presence of my hand.

The deep tie between women’s appearance and sexism motivates me to create objects that initially appear beautiful but reveal the underlying anger and conflict inherent in gender inequality. While my work begins from personal experience, I have come to see it as a voice in response to what I view as a growing attack on women. In this way, the personal becomes political.