Erin Shafkind’s Illustrated Studio Tours, Part 3: Amy-Ellen Trefsger, The Grey

In the Fall of 2004 Amy-Ellen Trefsger made a public declaration: she was committed to being creative for the rest of her life.

In an actual ceremony produced at the Center on Contemporary Art at its now-defunct Dexter location in Seattle, Trefsger staged several rituals, including being walked down the aisle by her father, dragging a cardboard locomotive train (literally), and having two Butoh dancers tie the proverbial knot with a thick length of rope. She also legally adopted the middle name Flatchestedmama.

An avid “mail artist” (as in, one who sends art through the Post, correspondence-style), Trefsger is somewhat of a punster, and is fascinated by bringing art into her everyday life. Three years ago she started a piece called Monochromatic May. Each year during this month, she wears only the color grey, including undergarments and accessories. She holds a Color Court first, in which a jury of her peers judge the clothing she is to wear throughout the month. Due to the fact that some grey hues have bits of blue or too much black, this can be an interesting process of reaching consensus.

When I visited Amy-Ellen in her studio, which sits above All City Coffee in the heart of Georgetown, she was busy working on visuals for her upcoming May 2010 exhibition at Gallery4Culture. Suitably, she had removed all color from her half of the odd triangular space she shares with artist Maija Fiebig.

[More after the jump.]

What's left is an assortment of grey paintings, grey photos, some grey clothing, a silver cabinet stacked with grey sharpies and paint, plus some black and white for mixing. Since much of Trefsger’s work is about endurance, collecting, performing and taking photos, she usually doesn’t need lots of room to prep. But she decided to rent the studio specifically for preparing this year’s Monochromatic May.

Seeing all the grey intrigued me. I went to work looking for contrast in the dark and light tones, and composed several photos using the negative space of the wall.

Flatchestedmama challenges herself to create and explore her world by enduring all-consuming concepts and so – much like the bright yellow door in her studio – asks us to enter a bright, shiny and at times neutral existence.

Painting is a new addition to her repertoire and she mainly uses a clean line and a graphic style within a heightened flatness. This works well when you consider it alongside her blog, The Flat Life. Using humor, and what could seem like plain objects, I think perhaps she’s really trying to challenge us to notice the world’s vibrancy, embrace its dimension and participate daily in the creative.

Note: the day I visited her studio in Georgetown she was not dressed in grey, but in bright red. Furthermore, Amy-Ellen is part of an all female double dutch team, On the Double, and her nickname is Georgia, but it’s a coincidence.

Amy-Ellen Flatchestedmama Trefsger will be holding a Color Court at Grey Gallery on Wednesday April 28 at 7:00pm. To learn more, please visit her Web site flatchestedmama.com

Erin Shafkind is an all-around creative and educator living and working in Seattle. Follow her work on her blog, poorworm.com, and erinshafkind.com.

Photos by Erin Shafkind.