Eileen Udo

she/her
Photographic artist
(b. 2004)


Works:


Do you know what

Loaded Sediment

Scarecrows — Politics in My Backyard

Vogelogen

Krinkels en Spreekhanen About:


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Contact me:
eileenudo@gmail.com

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@eileen.udo

Loaded Sediment

2025
Soil chromatographs, animal trailer, projection, clay, metal, bamboo, prints on hardboard. Fires are raging across the training grounds, and emissions from armed conflicts and the military industry are the highest in the world. At the same time, the Ministry of Defence likes to present itself as a nature conservationist. In Loaded Sediment, which takes an anecdote as its starting point and a river as its perspective, I attempt to question the sentiment regarding the Ministry of Defence in the Netherlands.

When I decided to take a dip in the river behind my backyard, 
I never expected to be sharing the swimming water with soldiers.

In the Utrecht archives, I have found photographs dating from between 1948 and 1958 which show military training exercises. I search for traces with my underwater camera and record the sound of the river, in which you can hear an inexplicable mechanical noise, as if the river is still echoing.

By applying soil chromatography to the Kromme Rijn, the preserved impact of military strategy becomes visible. I took two hypothetical sediment samples of the river. One scoop of the sediment of 1865, when the military was active. And one scoop of the most recent layer of sediment,  now that there is no military presence anymore.
The darker and more layered the chromatograph is, the healthier the soil. Looking at this, one can conclude that military activities cause ecological violence and even ecocide.
Loaded Sediment has been exhibited in a group exhibition at Stadstuin Plutodreef, as a result of the HKU Minor Arts & Ecology.

For more information, check: @hku.artsecology






















© 2025 Eileen Udo