Matter and memory: The mixed media art of Sophie Eisner

Sophie Eisner is a mixed media artist working in steel, fabric, concrete, silicone and other materials. Her solo show “Holding Patterns” at the Norfolk Library will be on view through July 1.

Thematically, “Holding Patterns” explores the energy of potential and how the human body holds emotional experience. Her work often depicts empty vessels and uses negative space to explore tension between objects.

Inspired by the memory of a traumatic childhood injury at her family home in Norfolk, Eisner remembers how her father took care of her.

“When I was three years old, I fell and cut my knee badly. My dad picked me up and put me in the kitchen sink. I think about that in terms of objects and the relationship between space, feelings and memories. Physical space and emotional quality are very merged,” she said.

Perhaps due to this experience, sinks and empty vessels figure frequently in Eisner’s work. She has a fondness for the smoothness and utility of their design as well as empty bowls. But Eisner explores other ideas and works in different mediums, often welding metal coils.

“If we take that into the metaphorical range, it’s like a human where we’re not all made at once but who you are grows out of this accumulation of experiences and events that sort of mark you over time. So, that’s another way that I’ve explored ideas of memory,” she said.

While Eisner’s work deals with personal experiences, it is open to viewer interpretation, often in a non-linear fashion.

“It is like when you have a dream, you forget about it and then you remember it later. There’s enough logic or structure there that it feels familiar or like it could be known, even though it’s not necessarily nameable,” she said.

Blue velvet is one of Eisner’s preferred fabrics, which she uses to convey value. She was attracted to the material after seeing an empty violin case and was struck by the beauty of the velvet as well as the absence of the object, which is as of much interest to Eisner as what is present.

“Building those narratives, the loose idea of how one thing starts to ‘talk to the other’ and that vibration between them can change really dramatically depending on where they’re placed. The sweet spot between harmony and tension as I’m working in the studio is an opportunity to do more of a meditative practice,” she said.

Up next, Eisner will be showing at the new O+ Headquarters in Kingston in July and August. O+ is an organization that facilitates artists getting healthcare in exchange for their work. She will also be part of a pop-up exhibition at Atlas Studios in Newburgh, New York for Upstate Art Weekend July 17 through 21.

This story has been corrected to fix the end date of Eisner's solo show at the Norfolk Library (July 1) and that she works with many materials, including silicone.