Eileen Panepinto

Eileen Panepinto is a mixed-media artist, painter and collagist who received her BFA with honors in painting from the School of Visual Arts in NYC. Eileen moved from NYC to CT in 1993 where she found the Connecticut countryside to be an inspiration to her and her work. Exhibiting since 1986 she was awarded two special recognition awards for her mixed-media landscape painting installations. Her exhibit history includes six one-person shows as well as numerous group shows in NYC, CT and other parts of the country. Her work is in numerous private collections.
As well, her commissioned, large-scale triptych was installed in a public space (St. John’s Bread & Life) in Brooklyn, NY in 2013. As a member of a local art collective for many years (Artists Collective of Westport), Eileen was part of an organization that helps art and artists engage with the community through Pop-Up exhibits and other venues which included teaching opportunities. In addition, she has been a teaching artist for many years teaching visual art to children and teens in visiting artists programs, summer art camps, after-school programs and in individual instruction. She developed and ran an art program for a NY Montessori school (grades 1 thru 8) for two years. She also has a background in the applied arts, having been a graphic artist, designer, and typographer for many years. Her studio and home are in Weston, CT where she lives with her husband and dog Bosco.

My work centers around creating abstract and semi-abstract expressions of experiences, places, and states of mind through mixed-media constructions, collages, paintings, and drawings. Inspired by a range of subjects, I aim to capture their essence using a visual language I have developed over time. I strive to offer fresh and evocative imagery that engages the viewer’s imagination.

The process I follow in my mixed-media work is shaped by the nature of dreams and personal experiences, where fragments of images, thoughts, and sensations often intersect, overlap, and merge into a unified whole. Collaging elements or layering parts of one painted composition over another helps convey how I perceive reality. For example, when reflecting on a season, one might associate various symbols, images, or elements that mix with personal memories and reflections. As these different aspects come together, they form something unique—greater than the sum of their parts. Each element may serve as a metaphor, like a golden thread symbolizing sunlight. Found materials shed their original context, taking on new meaning while retaining a connection to their past. For instance, incorporating leather into a piece about Native Americans contributes to the piece’s overall character. Sometimes, I might use materials like string or wire literally to form a line, rather than painting it.

My approach to painting has naturally evolved from my work with collages and constructions, though painting allows me to dive deeper into the medium, exploring new methods and finding fresh ways to express ideas. It offers me the space to create atmospheres that represent specific subjects or mental states. My compositions are rarely planned in advance; rather, they develop organically through the creative process.

Formally, my work draws inspiration from the modern masters—Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, Cornell, Rauschenberg, among others. While I see myself as part of this artistic lineage, I seek to expand on it rather than replicate it, embracing original ideas and methods that foster imagination-to-imagination communication with the viewer.