Eiden Spilker (b. 1996) is a Providence, RI-based artist and craftsman. He holds BAs in Architecture and Visual Arts from Brown University and recently started as the 'Maker in Residence' at the Brown Design Workshop where he strives to strengthen collective craft knowledge.
Spilker’s work explores materiality and the relationship between material record and socially mediated meaning. Using primarily salvaged and reclaimed wood, he investigates the historic testimony of objects, asking how material memory can inform the way we construct narratives of the past. His process centers the reciprocal relationship between craftsperson/artist and object, where form emerges from this tension, rather than being simply imposed upon it from the start. Through studies of form, ornamentation, and modes of production, Spilker provides the space for viewers to question the nature of the object in front of them and the context that surrounds it.
Spilker’s sonic practice ranges from producing R&B hip hop, and neo-soul for several Providence-based vocalists, including Domedekka, Butterbird, and Buddvh; playing Bass with D.C.-based “One Way Out” for their 2022 ‘Music and Euphoria Tour’; and solo experimental electronic music using a modular synthesizer. Notable performances include opening for Phony Ppl with Notsodifferent, playing the opening reception for the RISD Museum’s 2022 ‘Black Biennial’, and an 80-minute set for ‘Night at the Museum’ in the RISD Museum’s Grand Gallery. Spilker releases music under the name ‘Eiden Stock’ in tribute to his late grandfather David Stock, a composer, educator, and founder of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble.
Education
2020-2024 AB in Architecture (Honors), AB in Visual Arts, Brown University, Providence, RI
Selected Exhibitions
2024 Mixotricha: Death of the Author, Fugitive Projects, Providence, RI
2024 Senior Showcase, LIST Art Building, Providence, RI
2024 Solo Show - objects in flux : (a)social relations, LIST Art Building, Providence, RI
2024 44th Annual Student Juried Exhibition, Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, Providence, RI
Juried by Jessica Brown and Sháńdíín Brown
2024 Third Biennial College Exhibition, Providence Art Club, Providence RI
2023 The Color Red, LIST Art Building, Providence, RI
2023 Thought to Form, LIST Art Building, Providence, RI
2023 Group Show, Public Shop & Gallery, Providence, RI
2023 Rising Senior Exhibition, LIST Art Building, Providence, RI
2023 43rd Annual Student Juried Exhibition, Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, Providence, RI
Juried by Lani Asunción and Xander Marro
2023 Eco-brutalist Reverberations, Salon 149, Providence, RI
Selected Performances
2023 Opening act for Phony Ppl with Notsodifferent, The Met, Pawtucket, RI
2023 Eco-brutalist Reverberations, Salon 149, Providence, RI
2023 A ‘Low Key’ Affair, Salon 149, Providence, RI
2022 ‘The Black Biennial’ Opening Reception, RISD Museum’s Gelman Gallery, Providence, RI
2022 Night at the Museum, RISD Museum’s Grand Gallery, Providence, RI
2022 Project Main Green, Notsodifferent, Providence, RI
2022 “Music and Euphoria Tour,” One Way Out, East Coast Tour
8 stops, including:
Heaven Can Wait, NYC, NY
DC9, Washington D.C.
The Camel, Richmond, VA
Awards
2024 Honorable Mention, 44th Annual Student Juried Exhibition, Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, Providence, RI
Juried by Jessica Brown and Sháńdíín Brown
2023 Flexible Flyer Fellowship Award, Brown University Visual Arts Department, Providence RI
2023 BAI Student Grant, Brown Arts Institute, Providence RI
2023 Marlene Malik Fellowship Award, Brown University Visual Arts Department, Providence RI
2023 2nd Place, 43rd Annual Student Juried Exhibition, Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, Providence, RI
Juried by Lani Asunción and Xander Marro
2015 2nd Place - Photography, Keren Or Youth Competition, Rimon, Minneapolis, MN