Work samples

  • Something Worth Doing
    Something Worth Doing

    "Something Worth Doing," Gallery installation of 3 queen-sized mattress toppers with found objects and 3 11x14” framed 5-star reviews

  • Ordered
    Ordered
    Series of 24 x 18" Monoprints made from packaging materials delivered to my house after online shopping
  • A Demographic Case Study (35-44, woman, Baltimore)
    A Demographic Case Study (35-44, woman, Baltimore)
    "A Demographic Case Study" is a sculptural installation of 126 Instagram ads viewed over a one-week period
  • Old Oak
    Old Oak
    "Old Oak" is an installation that is part of an interdisciplinary project situating my matrilineage alongside larger notions of landscape, home, and gender

About Amber Eve

Baltimore City, Baltimore City - Station North A&E District

Amber Eve Anderson is a conceptual artist whose work considers the ways identity and behavior are informed by one's surroundings, both physical and virtual. Oftentimes, this begins in the context of the home and extends from the objects and ideas therein to the cities and landscapes beyond. She combines everyday objects with text and digital ephemera, such as screenshots from her smartphone, in playful and poetic ways that reflect her personal experience. The work calls attention… more

Something Worth Doing

Something Worth Doing was my most recent solo exhibition at Hamiltonian Gallery, which was a reflection on the objects we surround ourselves with and the comfort they provide, both physically and psychologically. The exhibition centered around a series of four sculptures built on top of foam mattress toppers that include natural materials, curbside giveaways, products purchased from targeted ads, and things passed down to me by loved ones. The care in selecting and displaying these things belies the fact that they are not altogether precious, which raises questions of value and meaning in relation to consumerism and commodification. Each sculpture is accompanied by a printed review written on a 5-star scale to underscore these concepts.

  • Gallery Installation of Something Worth Doing
    Gallery Installation of Something Worth Doing

    2022, 3 queen-sized foam mattress toppers and 3 framed 5-star reviews

  • Wishing for Cottonwoods
    Wishing for Cottonwoods

    2022, Found objects including: Foam mattress topper, Acrylic house with cottonwood buds, Bird skull, Cardboard, Doily, Pencil in a plastic bag, Photograph, Pillow, Plastic bag, Risk pieces in glass vial, Seashell, Sweatshirt, Theracane massage tool, Vintage snack set

  • When Plastic Bags do Ballet
    When Plastic Bags do Ballet

    2022, Digital c-type print

  • Cottonwood Seeds (5 stars)
    Cottonwood Seeds (5 stars)

    Text reads: The most notable aspect of a cottonwood seed is the fact that it floats through the air on the delicate white fluff that surrounds it. The seeds are densely compacted in barky buds about the size of a pea, which dangle in clusters from the tree branches. Released in early summer; they decorate the sky like a fairytale–especially on sunny days where they glint in the light, almost glittering. They collect along the edges of lakes and lawns, creating fuzzy white borders like the lines on a map.You’ll find them anywhere there are cottonwood trees, which generally grow near water; their rustling leaves almost mimicking the sound of a babbling brook. When I was a child, my family camped at a state park filled with these trees. The scent still transports me–sunny sweet with a hint of dried dirt. Cottonwood seeds could be compared to dandelions, whose seeds children use to make wishes before dispersing them to the wind. They are romantic in that way and carry with them a sense of yearning and wonder. I wish there were more of them where I live now, but maybe I just don’t know where to find them.

  • If Only It Were Scented
    If Only It Were Scented

    2022, Found objects including: Foam mattress topper, Bison grass, Broken vase, Campfire-scented candle, Cross-stitched pillow, Glove, Ladybug, Massage tool, Packing peanut, Photographs, Pinecone in a box with pine needles, Pine tree wrapping paper, Sticks, String lights, World clock

  • Climbing Pine Trees
    Climbing Pine Trees

    2022, Digital c-type print

  • Pine Tree Wrapping Paper (5 stars)
    Pine Tree Wrapping Paper (5 stars)

    Reads: "Wrapping paper depicting a photographic pine tree pattern with the branches extending forward from a dark background. When used to wrap a gift, it almost suggests the branches continue into whatever object the paper is wrapped around, eventually leading to a trunk. If I had more, I’d wrap enough boxes to stack them so high I could crawl beneath, like the boughs of the pine trees I played under as a child in my backyard. I loved to climb their branches like a ladder, staying close to the trunk, my hands sticky with sap. In the spring I’d collect pinecones and my mother would turn them into peanut butter covered bird feeders or wax dipped fire starters. This wrapping paper is unique since usually giftwrap patterns are illustrated or abstract. I especially appreciate the more vague association to the winter season compared to most holiday wrapping paper options. If you’re like me, you may even save it after it’s been used for the associations it conjures. If only it were scented."

  • An Excuse to Lie Down and Close my Eyes
    An Excuse to Lie Down and Close my Eyes

    2022, Found objects including: Foam mattress topper, Shiatsu neck massager, Book, Mirror, Hand-embroidered rose, Feather, Oversized bow, Etched-glass hearts, Paper butterfly, and Wax leaf.

  • An Excuse to Lie Down and Close my Eyes (detail)
    An Excuse to Lie Down and Close my Eyes (detail)
  • Occassions for Something Useless
    Occassions for Something Useless

    2022, Found objects including: Foam mattress topper, Window screen, Dried flowers, Cookie cutters, Old Bay, Book, Hanger, Paper snowflake, Donut ornament, Glass vials with natural materials, Vintage snack plate set in original cardboard box, Photograph, Miniature notebook

Ordered, Delivered, Fulfilled

Included in my most recent solo exhibition alongside the mattress topper sculptures was this series of monoprints made from cardboard boxes that were delivered to my house and two digital collages sourced from delivery confirmation emails.

  • Monoprints
    Monoprints

    Series of monoprints made using cardboard boxes and mailing packages that were sent to my house from online orders

  • Amazon
    Amazon

    Cardboard box monoprint, 24 x 18 inches

  • Walmart
    Walmart

    Mailing envelope Monoprint, 24 x 18 inches

  • Jerry's Artarama
    Jerry's Artarama

    Cardboard box Monoprint, 24 x 18 inches

  • Lens Direct
    Lens Direct

    Cardboard box monoprint, 24 x 18 inches

  • Chewy, Warby Parker, Printique
    Chewy, Warby Parker, Printique

    Three in a series of eight monoprints

  • Gallery installation
    Gallery installation
  • Gallery Installation
    Gallery Installation

    Digital collages of my front door using images sourced from delivery confirmation emails

  • Delivered
    Delivered

    Digital c-type Print, 12 x 9 inches

  • Fulfilled
    Fulfilled

    Digital c-type Print, 12 x 9 inches

A Demographic Case Study (35-44, woman, Baltimore)

"A Demographic Case Study (35-44, woman, Baltimore)" is an archive of every ad that I viewed on Instagram over a one-week period. Composed of 126 images that almost exclusively depict household goods, the archive presents a self-portrait through the lens of targeted advertising. Objects ranging from rugs to sofas to earrings to soap portrayed amidst orderly, plant-filled, sun-dappled rooms, suggest affluence, aesthetic integrity, and a good night of sleep. The work calls attention to everyday technologies by upsetting the usual means of interaction while also functioning as a playful critique in order to explore how identity is reduced by consumerism. This work was exhibited in my solo exhibition "This is Who I Am Now" at H-Space in Washington, DC.

  • A Demographic Case Study (35-44, woman, Baltimore)
    A Demographic Case Study (35-44, woman, Baltimore)

    "A Demographic Case Study" is a sculptural installation of 126 Instagram ads viewed over a one-week period

  • Detail of Living Room ads
    Detail of Living Room ads
  • Complete list of Instagram ads
    Complete list of Instagram ads

    Spread from "Ad Words" (a companion text to my solo exhibition "This is Who I Am Now") listing every ad viewed over a one-week period including the date and time it was viewed.

  • Exhibition Layout
    Exhibition Layout

    Spread from "Ad Words" (a companion text to my solo exhibition "This is Who I Am Now") showing the gallery layout as seen in the first image

  • Detail of Rugs ads
    Detail of Rugs ads
  • Installation Image
    Installation Image

    "Rugs" seen in the foreground and "Beds" in the back corner

  • Detail of Beds ads
    Detail of Beds ads

    All of the bedding (top) and mattress (bottom) advertisements viewed on Instagram during a one-week period

  • Detail of Exterior ads
    Detail of Exterior ads
  • Detail of Travel ads
    Detail of Travel ads

    The single travel-related ad I viewed on Instagram over the course of one week

  • Installation View 2
    Installation View 2

Ad Words

"Ad Words" is a companion text for my solo exhibtion "This is Who I Am Now" at H-Space in Washington, DC. The book features 11 AI-generated poems based on captions from "A Demographic Case Study," an archive of 126 ads I viewed on Instagram during a one-week period.

  • Exhibition Companion
    Exhibition Companion

    Cover of the exhibition companion along with the first two pages of the book.

  • Front Cover
    Front Cover

    8 x 5", Staple-bound, 39 pages

  • Index
    Index

    Two-page spread showing the book's index

  • Poem 2: Make the Most of the Hard Work
    Poem 2: Make the Most of the Hard Work

    AI-generated poem based on the captions from one-week of Instagram ads

  • Poem 7: Everything You're Looking for, Perfect for Your Life
    Poem 7: Everything You're Looking for, Perfect for Your Life

    AI-generated poem based on the captions from one-week of Instagram ads

  • Poem 11: BREATHEFREE
    Poem 11: BREATHEFREE

    AI-generated poem based on the captions from one-week of Instagram ads

  • Ad Words

    PDF excerpt from the book

Homestead

Homestead is an interdisciplinary project that situates my matrilineage alongside larger notions of landscape, home, and gender. In 1873, ten miles south of my native Nebraska and an hour's drive from the geographic center of the United States, my great-great-great-grandparents claimed land under the Homestead and Timber Culture Acts. The landscape is now vast, indistinguishable farmland. History reveals more absences than answers. Two 150-year-old trees at the site and a enarby pioneer cemetery where my maternal granmother, her mother, and her mother's mother are all buried, are vague markers of this history. In my return to this land, my matrilineage is subsumed by Mother Nature. The work archives and memorializes what remains of this place­­­­—personally significatn and universally forgtten­­­­—while considering the ways certain histories are privileged over others. 
 

  • Old Oak
    Old Oak

    Installation using Digital Photograph on Fabric with adhesive backing, Found paint swatches, Pressed cottonwood buds, Rconstructed historical book, Pillowcase embroidered by my grandmother, Tree limb, House paint

  • Certain Histories
    Certain Histories

    9" x 12" Digital Photograph of my great-great-great-grandmother standing in front of the now-dying cottonwood that marks the land homesteaded by my ancestors

  • Homestead

    This video touches on the history of my great-great-great grandparents who claimed land under the Homestead and Timber Culture Acts. The landscape, now vast, indistinguishable farmland, reveals more absences than answers. Two 150-year-old trees at the site and a nearby pioneer cemetery where my maternal grandmother, her mother, and her mother's mother are all buried, are vague markers of this history. In returning to this land, my matrilineage is subsumed by Mother Nature.

  • Detail of Old Oak
    Detail of Old Oak

    Digital Photograph, Pressed Cottonwood Buds

  • Detail of Old Oak picturing reconstructed historical book
    Detail of Old Oak picturing reconstructed historical book

    The text on the open page refers to my great-great-great grandfather.

  • Detail of Old Oak showing paint swatches and envelope
    Detail of Old Oak showing paint swatches and envelope
  • Farmingdale
    Farmingdale

    Installation of photographs, tracing paper, found objects, dirt, and vinyl

  • Farmingdale detail
    Farmingdale detail

    Framed photographs and found objects

  • Detail of Personal Archives
    Detail of Personal Archives

    Cicada found at the National Homestead Monument preserved in resin

  • Timescales

    Timescales, Two-channel Video Installation

Accumulations

"Accumulations" consists of one-of-a-kind objects and images displayed in white frames, including torn wrapping paper, yellow tissues, a map, and pine needles, among other things. The work was exhibited alongside the installation of Instagram ads in my solo exhibition and acts as an alternative self-portrait.

  • Accumulations (1-17)
    Accumulations (1-17)

    Series of 17 frames containing photographs and found objects; each frame measures 12x9 inches.

  • Accumulations #6-9
    Accumulations #6-9

    Detail of "Accumulations (1-17)" showing frames containing: a card with the letter "U" in a floral script, a photograph of the sunset, a plastic baggie containing seeds, and yellow tissues.

  • Accumulations #1
    Accumulations #1

    The beginning and end of "Accumulations (1-17)" depict the backside of photographs describing my great grandmother's house.

  • Accumulations #2
    Accumulations #2

    The second frame in "Accumulations (1-17)" contains an empty blue tissue packet.

  • Accumulations #3
    Accumulations #3

    The third frame in "Accumulations (1-17)" contains a large pressed dried flower.

  • Accumulations #4
    Accumulations #4

    The fourth frame in "Accumulations (1-17)" contains used wrapping paper depicting realistic pine branches.

  • Accumulations #17
    Accumulations #17

    The beginning and end of "Accumulations (1-17)" depict the backside of photographs describing my great grandmother's house.

  • Accumulations (18-21)
    Accumulations (18-21)

    Set of four frames containing photographs and found objects related to roses; each frame measures 12x9 inches.

  • Accumulations (22-24)
    Accumulations (22-24)

    Set of three frames containing photographs and found objects; each frame measures 12x9 inches.

Apartment 404 Not Found

For Apartment 404 Not Found I moved my home into the gallery. I then documented the installation as a 360-degree virtual reality (VR) image before removing all of the furniture. A half-circle "orientation table" similar to what you might find at a hilltop vista, sits in the center of the space, the absent objects depicted on its surface. The dislocation of relocation is exemplified by the juxtaposition of physically standing in a vacant space while viewing that same space in virtual reality filled with the belongings of home. The furniture from the installation—packed atop a moving pallet, wrapped in plastic—became a sculptural object alongside the VR installation. My home remained empty for the duration of the exhibition.

  • Virtual Reality installation
    Virtual Reality installation

    Viewer using virtual reality headset in the gallery space to view the installation of my home in the same gallery space.

  • Gallery installation
    Gallery installation

    The table in the center with the virtual reality headset, the two white blinds hanging from the ceiling, and the door frame to the right are all part of the installation. The blinds and the doorframe are also in the virtual reality installation.

  • View of Virtual Reality Installation
    View of Virtual Reality Installation

    Snapshot of what the viewer would see in the VR headset, which was my living room installed in the same gallery space. See full 360-degree image here: https://goo.gl/maps/Dq7a3Rz6vpr

  • Orientation Table
    Orientation Table

    At the center of the room, the orientation table depicted drawn items from the virtual reality installation along with descriptions of the objects.

  • Apartment 404 Not Found

    Video documentation of Apartment 404 Not Found showing a side-by-side comparison of the gallery space and the virtual reality image.

  • Apartment 404 Not Found
    Apartment 404 Not Found

    Outside of the gallery, all of the furniture from the virtual reality installation in the gallery was packed on top of a moving pallet and wrapped in plastic.

  • Doorway to Apartment 404
    Doorway to Apartment 404

    Image of my front door with a gallery label beside the number 404.

  • Empty Apartment 404
    Empty Apartment 404

    An image of my apartment, emptied of all its furniture, for the duration of the exhibition.

Free to a Good Home

Free to a Good Home is an attempt to understand the meaning of home based on the things within it. Each page documents an object advertised for ‘free to a good home’ on Craigslist and the subsequent email exchanges with anonymous users. At times poetic, at times mundane, everyday objects gain importance through personal histories and associations. The online performance, enacted in real life, offers a glimpse into the potential of online interactions. From a classic 1940s sofa to an underwater camera case, the ephemera of one home assumes life in another, each object threading together every home. Free to a Good Home was purchased by the New York Public Library and is sold at Printed Matter, the world's leading non-profit for artist books.

  • Cover
    Cover

    11 x 8.5", Perfect-bound, 141 pages

    Available for Purchase
  • classic 1940s sofa
    classic 1940s sofa

    Two-page spread from Free to a Good Home showing a screenshot from Craigslist for a red 1940s sofa and the resulting email exchange.

  • 7" Braid of Bison Grass
    7" Braid of Bison Grass

    Screenshot of bison grass ad that I posted to Craigslist.

  • Two-page Spread
    Two-page Spread

    Screenshot of Bison Grass ad (from previous image) along with resulting email exchanges.

  • Tune of a Dove According to a Wind Chime
    Tune of a Dove According to a Wind Chime

    Two-page spread showing screenshot of Craigslist ad for a CD recording of a wind chime along with resulting email exchanges.

  • Free to a Good Home excerpt

    PDF download

Seabed

Over the course of one month, I took aerial photographs of my sheets each morning. The bedthe most intimate of spacesbecomes instead a place of the immense, in which the daily movement of the sheets stands in for seas swirls: the Atlantic Ocean that separated my two homes. A Unique Edition of 30 with 3 Deluxe Editions, each edition comes in an archival box with a signed and numbered copy of the book, as well as a signed, unique print of the photograph. The 3 Deluxe Editions come with a USB containing a universal file for the Seabed video.

  • Editioned Artist Book
    Editioned Artist Book

    Interior page of artist book that reads "home."

  • Box Set
    Box Set

    Includes 30-page book, unique photograph, and universal video file

  • Unique Photograph
    Unique Photograph

    Photograph from one page of the book included in each box set.

  • Seabed (clip)

    Clip from the video included on the flash drive in the box set.

Holes in the Digital Sphere

This piece shows all of the black holes in the Google Street View sky over Morocco, where Google Street View does not exist and instead users upload and capture their own 360-degree images using their personal devices. If the user fails to capture the sky overhead, a black hole appears in the image. Collected by taking screenshots while searching through all of the images, the screenshots are arranged in ascending order, so the smallest holes appear at one end of the line of images until the screenshot finally becomes entirely black. This references the gap between one's experience of a real place and one's experience of that place through digital representation.

  • Holes in the Digital Sphere
    Holes in the Digital Sphere

    2015, Printed Screenshots of the Google Street View sky in Morocco

  • Holes in the Digital Sphere
    Holes in the Digital Sphere

    2015, Detail view of Printed Screenshots of the Google Street View sky in Morocco

  • Holes in the Digital Sphere
    Holes in the Digital Sphere

    2015, Single image of the Google Street View sky in Morocco

  • Holes in the Digital Sphere
    Holes in the Digital Sphere

    2015, Printed Screenshots of the Google Street View sky in Morocco