1997-2001
Visual Music
Long and thin, the early work of Matthew Eickhoff forces the viewer to read the composition back and forth as though it were a piece of music. The repetition of form and color create a visual representation of music. The subject matter ranges from different public spaces, such as coffee houses, light stores, laundry mats and grocery store aisles.
2001
Summer Madness
Inspired by working with paper collages, the paintings created during the summer of 2001 showcase patterns and flattened cutout imagery. This marks an introduction of figurative themed paintings from a wide source of influences: found photographs, photographs from daily life, and semi-autobiographical portraits.
2002-2004
Fox Force Five
The first five paintings, 6'4" x 5'9", play off of the long narrow format that dominated Matthew Eickhoff's early Visual Music paintings.
The incorporation of a long narrow rectangle touches the heads of the figures, setting up a collage or combination of imagery to create a dialogue. The initial series was conceived as 5 large square paintings, thus the series title Fox Force Five. More paintings followed and were created during 2002. Almost the entire series has been sold, and resides in collections in California, Indiana, and Michigan.
The incorporation of a long narrow rectangle touches the heads of the figures, setting up a collage or combination of imagery to create a dialogue. The initial series was conceived as 5 large square paintings, thus the series title Fox Force Five. More paintings followed and were created during 2002. Almost the entire series has been sold, and resides in collections in California, Indiana, and Michigan.
2004-2006
Becoming Your Fingerprints
This period is marked by paintings of family life and an increased focus on narrative themed imagery. The use of wild and natural color choices still continues in this period of paintings. The incorporation of barn wood from Matthew Eickhoff's grandparent's farm and home town in Independence emphasizes this desire and need to bring the loss of family even closer.
Fore Armed Painting: Jason Ecer & Matthew Eickhoff
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Jason Ecer and Matthew Eickhoff first met in 1998 in a painting class at Herron School of Art. They began by sharing a studio, and
since then, they've remained artistic comrades in arms. In 2004, they devised several painting games that required both painters to share, react, and manipulate the other painter's intentions. All of the work is an organic growth of collaboration and not entirely one artist's individual vision. |
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Pulling at the Fabric of Change
The Wedding of Denise Charboneau and Matthew Eickhoff was painted in the three weeks surrounding the event.
Matthew began painting this a couple weeks prior to the wedding, and didn't complete it until the eception held in Indianapolis, after their ceremony in Independence, Ohio. The reflection side depicts a funeral in the spring, while the wedding occurs in the fall. It shows not just the passing of the seasons, but the passing of the years, as represented by the family surrounding the couple.
Matthew began painting this a couple weeks prior to the wedding, and didn't complete it until the eception held in Indianapolis, after their ceremony in Independence, Ohio. The reflection side depicts a funeral in the spring, while the wedding occurs in the fall. It shows not just the passing of the seasons, but the passing of the years, as represented by the family surrounding the couple.
The Warmth of a Grey Cloud
Still dealing with the aftermath of the death of Matthew Eickhoff's mother, these paintings can be seen as a series which encompass the period of grief that lingers on, long after the initial loss. The grey landscape titled, February Blanket, depicts the sad warmth the is felt while missing someone who has departed.
Ashes From the Cradle
After receiving the Creative Renewal Fellowship in 2005, Matthew Eickhoff focused on developing a cinematic themed narrative.
Ashes from the Cradle marks a distinctive creative move for Eickhoff to develop narratives, as well as composing source imagery by composing photographs together in Photoshop.
The opening music is seen as dawn, while the closing music is set at dusk. There are twelve singe images that depict a snapshot or a day in the life of multiple lives interconnecting. The ending shows a spiritual rebirth with the light of a deer soul escaping the body.
Ashes from the Cradle marks a distinctive creative move for Eickhoff to develop narratives, as well as composing source imagery by composing photographs together in Photoshop.
The opening music is seen as dawn, while the closing music is set at dusk. There are twelve singe images that depict a snapshot or a day in the life of multiple lives interconnecting. The ending shows a spiritual rebirth with the light of a deer soul escaping the body.
2006-2008
Beneath Twilight & Into the Dream Realm
Two series, lightly connected:
Twilight consists of four long horizontal nightscapes and play like a nocturne of visual music.
Each nightscape shows an area from the highway around Indianapolis.
Ether - Exit ramp on I-65 South
Deluge - Downtown Indy from I-65 Southbound in the rain
Spires - 5am Blue Dawn at Lucas Oil Stadium, during construction
Aurora - Indianapolis International Airport Parking Lot, 465 West
Twilight consists of four long horizontal nightscapes and play like a nocturne of visual music.
Each nightscape shows an area from the highway around Indianapolis.
Ether - Exit ramp on I-65 South
Deluge - Downtown Indy from I-65 Southbound in the rain
Spires - 5am Blue Dawn at Lucas Oil Stadium, during construction
Aurora - Indianapolis International Airport Parking Lot, 465 West
At the Bus Stop, Without Delay
Near the intersection of 10th and Rural in Indianapolis, this mural commissioned by Northeast Development and the Indianapolis Arts Council consists of six large panels. Gabe Delay, a young artist who passed away at an early age, helped make this project possible, and unfortunately was never able to see it to completion, however he was instrumental in the design and funding of the project.
2008-2010
Grey Matter
Grey Matter is the area absent from existence, it is there but not there.
Using the area of unpainted linen to show through alongside the painted surface, each painting investigates an aspect of the unknown, or an area of the paranormal which remains unexplained.
The paranormal is a continued source of interest that appears in Matthew Eickhoff's paintings, and specifically during this period of time. Three long narrow landscapes themed in Red, White, and Blue create a trilogy that compliment the Grey Matter series. Each landscape addresses a passage of time, environment, and events in exploration or war.
Using the area of unpainted linen to show through alongside the painted surface, each painting investigates an aspect of the unknown, or an area of the paranormal which remains unexplained.
The paranormal is a continued source of interest that appears in Matthew Eickhoff's paintings, and specifically during this period of time. Three long narrow landscapes themed in Red, White, and Blue create a trilogy that compliment the Grey Matter series. Each landscape addresses a passage of time, environment, and events in exploration or war.
Factory Windows/Skylife
2010
Lost Shadows
This series marks a return to looking at imagery from Matthew Eickhoff's grandfather, as well as incorporating Ed Funk's photography. There is an embrace of the family again, but through different eyes. The painting Foreboding Heaven marks a shift in Matthew Eickhoff's figurative focus, no longer entirely compelled by the loss of his mother, the painting depicts a vision of his daughter in the future leaving the safety of home.
2011
Anthropomorphic Soul Love
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Under Further Review
2012
Planetary Music Series
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Space Debris
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2013-2015
Extinction
2016
Environmental Inversion
