Evelyn Eller ~ New York

Feminism is not a Dirty Word
By Evelyn Eller
New York: Evelyn Eller, 2018. One-of-a-Kind.

9 x 6 x 1.5" hinged enameled wooden box with one opening. Mixed media collage with handmade and acid free papers, xerox. Signed by the artist.

Kate O'Brien, Odyssey, Jul 13, 2015: "We need to work to remove the stigma from the word 'feminism' because it's about equality and not about man-hating … I propose we all pause and think about what the word feminism really means. To me, feminism means empowerment. It means I can speak my mind and stand up for what I believe in. It means I have the strength to accomplish anything I set my mind to. I can talk too much, laugh too loudly, love way too hard and too much, and unapologetically be me. I want everyone to one day feel comfortable and empowered enough to say the same. So instead of putting each other down, let's lift each other up. Let's stop denying the power of feminism, because it can be life-changing. Let's stop treating feminism like a dirty word and instead treat it as it is--a word of inclusivity, power, and love. Let's stop being afraid of being a feminist--let's embrace it instead."

Evelyn Eller: "The title of this book addresses the backlash by some people against women wanting to be heard. We want to have more influence on their place in society by speaking out and becoming politically active."

This book "Feminism is not a Dirty Word" shows images of women speaking out, protesting, joining with other women via snapshot images and snippets of text – "The Choice is Ours", "Speak Out", "Stand Together" …
$800

Don't Shut Up
By Evelyn Eller
New York: Evelyn Eller, 2017. One-of-a-Kind.

6 x 9 x 2" hinged wooden box with metal fastener. Xerox and hand painted paper. Signed and dated by the artist.

Evelyn Eller: "Women throughout the world are responding to the 'Me Too' movement that has surfaced during the last few years. My book 'Don't Shut Up' acknowledges their voices, Women have been silenced for too long, by violence, censure and interruption. They are now speaking out by protesting, marching and taking part in public offices."

US maps are tipped into the interiors of "Don't Shut Up". Pictures of women across the country are tipped across the maps – fists raised, voices speaking out, women joining forces. In the bottom of the box are strips of text on black paper strips. "Speak Out", "Keep Talking", "Stand Together", "The Choice is Ours" are just a few of the sentiments expressed.
$800

Touch, Somatosensory
By Evelyn Eller
New York: Evelyn Eller, 2016. One-of-a-Kind.

14" x 10"; 4 pages. Bound in paper covers with sewn binding. Signed and dated by the artist.

Evelyn Eller: "Much of our experience with art is now digital. In this book, I tried to give the viewer an experience of seeing and holding a book that had a tactile feel. I incorporated text about touching, images of hands touching, sheets of Braille and textured papers in the construction of the work."
$500

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Unorthodox Stamp Album
By Evelyn Eller
New York: Evelyn Eller, 2015. One-of-a-Kind.

10"x 7.5 "x 2" closed, extends to 42"; 6 pages. Accordion fold. Pages extend from bottom of box with pull tie. Wooden box with metal hinges and metal snap closure. Cancelled stamps. Signed and dated by the artist.

Evelyn Eller: "A few years ago, I acquired a large amount of postage stamps from the daughter of a stamp collector. I didn't know if they had any monetary value, but I wanted to use them in my art work. I created a mixed media collaged artist book, using photocopies of maps and original stamps from the United States, Italy, France, Poland, Canada and Great Britain. Stamp collecting is a vanishing pastime. This book is my way of commemorating the Stamp Album. "
$900

Transitions
By Evelyn Eller
New York: Evelyn Eller, 2006. One-of-a-Kind.

6 x 7 x 1"; 8 unnumbered leaves on handmade paper loosely laid into black plastic box lined with patterned paper. The leaves contain paper collages with snippets of text and image. Paper title on lid tipped onto matching patterned paper.

With a single photocopied image on most pages along with multiple definitions seemingly cut from dictionaries the collages set forth the possible base roles of a woman's life - girl, daughter, sister, wife, daughter-in-law, mother, mother-in-law, widow - along with the trappings of those roles as captured by language - girlish, fertile, womb, fertile, sisterly, womanly, wifely.

"Transitions" suggests that what begins simply as girl/girlish becomes more and more complex through the transitions of a woman's life.

Would a look at transitions for men then be along the lines of – boy, son, brother, husband, son-in-law, father, father-in-law, widower; and, words such as boyish, fertile, brotherly, manly, husbandly.
$600

Died
By Evelyn Eller
New York: Evelyn Eller, 2020. One-of-a-Kind.

10" x 7.50" x 1.50" wooden box with loose leaves laid in. Mixed media collage. Folio and painted papers. Signed by the artist.

As COVID-19 has raged around the world we begin to see people disappear from our lives. Whether the disappearance is total isolation or death we grieve for these friends and loved ones. Using a score written by Charles Ives, book and paper artist Evelyn Eller has superimposed drawings of faces of people lost to COVID-19.

It seems appropriate to use his music to commemorate their memory as he was one of the first Americana composers of international renown. He was known as an "American original" in that he tried to capture the everyday American experience in his music. In this early piece that Eller has chosen, the circus has come to town and the watcher cannot find the pink lady. "Where is the lady all in pink … Can she have died?" Even in the happiest of times death can overshadow.

Evelyn Eller: "I have lost loved ones during this difficult period. The words from this piece by Charles Ives resonated with me. I used a page from his score and superimposed my drawings of faces of the dead over the music in order to commemorate their memory. "

Charles Edward Ives (1874-1954), wikipedia, 7/16/20: "an American modernist composer, … His music was largely ignored during his early life, and many of his works went unperformed for many years. Later in life, the quality of his music was publicly recognized, and he came to be regarded as an 'American original'. He was also among the first composers to engage in a systematic program of experimental music, with musical techniques including polytonality, polyrhythm, tone clusters, aleatory elements, and quarter tones. His experimentation foreshadowed many musical innovations that were later more widely adopted during the 20th century. Hence, he is often regarded as the leading American composer of art music of the 20th century."
(SOLD)

Glorious Sounds
By Evelyn Eller
New York: Evelyn Eller, 2002. One-of-a-Kind.

13 x 13"; 12 leaves. Laid in cloth covered four flap portfolio with bone and ribbon loop closure. Each collage signed and dated by the artist.

Evelyn Eller: "In this book, I used 12 of my original collages, which I created on handmade papers in 2002. The pages contain fragments of written text, musical scores, and photocopies of images of conductors, other musicians, and of my husband who was an avid fan of classical music. I always listen to WQXR, which is a radio station that plays classical music, while I am working in the studio. The folio is a homage to the glorious sounds that we hear when we listen to music."
(SOLD)

Human Toll
By Evelyn Eller
New York: Evelyn Eller, 2020. One-of-a-Kind.

10" x 8" x 5"; 6 pages. Accordion structure. Mixed media collage with acid free board, folio and Japanese Handmade paper. Signed.

Evelyn Eller: "I used the sadness and anxiety I felt during these months of isolation and quarantine in 2020 to create an artwork. In this book I combined the names of the deceased, musical dirges, and images of black lace, to show the human toll that Covid 19 has taken on us."
(SOLD)

Lives Lost
By Evelyn Eller
New York: Evelyn Eller, 2020. One-of-a-Kind.

10" x 5.8 " x 2" closed , 10" x 20" extended; 6 panels. Mixed media accordion fold book extending from bottom of wooden box. Materials include various colored Moriki papers, xerox. Box with metal snap closure and paper illustration with title on lid. Interior lid with tip in of words for those lost in the pandemic. Signed.

Evelyn Eller: "Another in my series about the Pandemic. This one uses my drawings of people - different genders and cultures. The drawings are superimposed over a musical score by Charles Ives, a page of names of the dead and also poetry and quotations from those who have written about loss."
(SOLD )

Pandemic
By Evelyn Eller
New York: Evelyn Eller, 2020. One-of-a-Kind.

8 x 10" closed; 6 pages including pastedowns. Accordion structure. Mixed media collage. Materials: acid free board, folio and handmade papers. Signed by the artist.

Another in Eller's series on the Pandemic and the dramatic toll it has taken of human life. In this bookwork, Eller superimposed her drawings of likely victims over the list of the dead published in "The New York Times". Over yellow pages of cell like images she has placed small photos of people she has known that fell victim to COVID-19.

On the pastedowns Eller has printed over the Times list, words we use when talking about those who have died - "Lost", "Dead", "Passed", "Gone", "Demised", "Died", "Departed". Saying the words out loud as one reads down the page is like a death knell -COVID-19 marching through the US – through the world.
(SOLD)

Pandemic Scrolls
By Evelyn Eller
New York: Evelyn Eller, 2020. One-of-a-Kind.

9" x 7" x 2" wooden box containing five scrolls. Mixed media collage. Materials: parchment paper, xerox, string. Interior lid with collage illustration and titles. Scrolls adhered to interior bottom of the box. Box exterior covered with paper design and titles. Signed.

Evelyn Eller: "Five scrolls, pasted into a box, that contain my drawings of faces of the dead. These drawings are superimposed over the list, from the New York Times, of those deceased from May of 2020. Unfortunately, the names of deceased due to the pandemic continue to rise at an alarming pace."
(SOLD)

Plague Season
By Evelyn Eller
New York: Evelyn Eller, 2020. One-of-a-Kind.

8 x 10" closed; 6 pages including pastedowns. Accordion structure. Paper title with excerpt and drawing illustration on cover. Mixed media collage. Materials: acid free board, folio and handmade papers, monoprints. Signed.

Evelyn Eller: "In this book I used my drawings superimposed over the list of the dead published in 'The New York Times'. I've also used poems written recently about the corona virus and my cut up monoprints. COVID-19 is no respecter of gender, age, or race as can be seen in the' New York Times' listings and in my drawings of the victims. "
(SOLD)

Those We Have Lost
By Evelyn Eller
New York: Evelyn Eller, 2020. One-of-a-Kind.

10" x 8" x 5"; 6 pages. Accordion structure. Mixed media collage. Acid free board, folio and Japanese Handmade paper. Signed.

Evelyn Eller: "On May 24th [2020] the New York Times listed nearly 100,00 names of people in the United States who had died of the coronavirus. Sadly many more have since passed away. I superimposed my drawings of people of different ages, gender and ethnicity, over the columns of the names from the New York Times article. We have experienced terrible losses."
(SOLD)