Erin Trefry, Box of Rain

About

Continuing Trefry’s oeuvre involving a method of personal archeology, the exhibition features a series of paintings and sculptures that expand her relationship with form and movement. The title of the exhibition, Box of Rain, is a reference to the Grateful Dead song written by Phil Lesh in 1970 for a parent during their final days.

Exploring a means of surrealist automatism, fabric and paint mimic an aerial view of a landscape or map, creating multi-faceted abstract paintings. Oil paint is applied in a range of hues including greens, blues, pinks, reds and black, sometimes in slow soft movements and at other times forming rapid tangles of instinctive shapes. Colors are informed by memories from the artist’s childhood home.

Many of the works incorporate sections of linen affixed to the surfaces by straight pins—often concealing most of the layers of paint. The largest painting in the exhibition, One meter of river, is a commanding piece layered with monochromatic tan and beige linen forms. A current of green oil paint hides beneath a constellation of pins—the energetic mark making of scraped and reworked paint exposing a record of gesture and time. Like a landmass on water, the paint acts as both a watery ground and a chasm under the cloth covering, a shifting Pangaea.

The paintings in this exhibition are accompanied by four sculptures. Hand-thrown ceramic slabs collaborate with inherited and found objects, such as bookends, brass drawer knobs, indigo textiles and purse handles. Alluding further to the cyclical nature of life, these works explore the importance of connectivity and balance.

Erin Trefry lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Trefry’s personally charged practice includes paintings, sculptures and assemblage that combine ceramic, inherited objects and clothing to create totems, mask-like wall pieces and transient structures. She received her BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, ML. She has exhibited with galleries and institutions in Southern California including the Harris Gallery at La Verne University, Lowell Ryan Projects, No Gallery, TSA LA, 0-0 LA, Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Monte Vista Projects, ODD ARK•LA, Eastside International, Big Pictures Los Angeles, and Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE). Trefry’s works have been reviewed and discussed in publications including Artforum, The Los Angeles Times, and Art and Cake.