My inspiration often begins with the natural world: seashells worn smooth by water and time, their internal structure revealed; the exposed strata of the earth, lamellations shaped by sediment and geologic shifts. These layered lines are echoed in the flat expanse of the Mississippi Delta, the landscape that shaped my visual vocabulary with its vast horizon and radial rows of plowed fields.
I am interested in the space between things—where elements shift along a line, across a horizon, or within the negative space of a page. Line, pattern, shape, and repetition are ways to experience expansiveness, tension, and balance. I am drawn to the relationship between forms: how they pair, oppose, or harmonize, whether on the flat plane of a page or as sculptural shapes, formed from paper pulp into textured, irregular surfaces and assembled on the wall.
Eileen works primarily in book arts, letterpress printing, and hand papermaking. She is a former resident artist at Penland School of Craft and has taught book arts and letterpress workshops at Penland and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Eileen curated the book Masters: Book Arts which featured the work of 40 artists; she is a co-director emeritus of the Paper & Book Intensive and former board member of Hand Papermaking magazine. Wallace earned an MLS in Library Science and an MFA in Book Arts, both from the University of Alabama and was named the 2025 Outstanding Book Arts Alum from the program.