Eileen Udo
she/herPhotographic artist
(b. 2004)
Do you know what
Loaded Sediment
Scarecrows — Politics in My Backyard
Vogelogen
Krinkels en Spreekhanen
Education
Exhibitions
Publications/Books
eileenudo@gmail.com
Follow me on Instagram:
@eileen.udo
(2026)
Prints, publication, audio
My landlord Stanislava found me while searching Facebook for "someone who isn't a party girl". We had video calls where she showed me the apartment in which we would spend the next few months together. Weeks before my arrival she introduced me to the city, sending me photographs of snowy parks and views from the Danube. She comforted me with her enthusiasm and promises of endless baking. When my mom drove back home without me, I never expected Stani to feel like my Slovak mother.
Over the past few months we travelled to the countryside to visit her friends, sat down to eat with her parents and drove to Kaufland to get an unnecessary amount of groceries. She would lend me her dresses to see ballet and I would paint her balcony.
Sundays were set aside for having lunch together after church. The conversations we had were hardly ever lighthearted. Since we had such different opinions, we rarely agreed with one another. Yet somehow, it worked.
By equipping both of us with a camera, the viewer is given the opportunity to interpret our different lives. Stanislava doesn't like to talk at length about herself; this is where photography works as an extension of her speech. When this somewhat hurried woman pauses to show me something, knowing that I might not understand, what I see above all is a great deal of love. This installation also features the notes she wrote to me, accompanied by one of those lively conversations we had during Sunday lunch, narrated by me.