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All photos: Kimberly Cadena

Intrigued by the way artists make do in a city notorious for its lack of building stock that is both suitable and affordable, we’ve decided to go on a mission to investigate and document the work spaces of the city’s creative class.

Following the great romantic tradition of artistic unions: Frida and Diego, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, local artists Matt Sesow and Dana Ellyn will marry. Just like their predecessors, Dana and Matt are just as fiercely devoted to one another as they are independent.

If Matt Sesow is Frank Black & Kim Deal,  Dana Ellyn is Rodgers & Hammerstein. Where Matt’s work comes off as a series of refined emotional outbursts, Dana’s paintings appear as controlled statements stemming from a highly trained wit.

Come with us as we ride the 42 bus route between Dana’s Penn Quarter and Matt’s Adams Morgan live-in studios; the bus route that serves as an artery for a couple who after 8 years, sees no need to move in together- even after marriage.

Her Studio

BYT: How long have you been in this space for?

Dana: Six years

BYT: What is this space?

Dana: It was a live/work housing lottery run by the Cultural Development Corporation. And they are now, as an organization, housed downstairs and the Flashpoint gallery is run by them. So they ran this housing lottery, and when I applied, it was about two years before it fully came together. So, I applied and I was like, “What the heck? Sure, what are the chances?” and it went through two years of, “Can you imagine if I got this?”

Matt: When Dana and I met, I was already established and my place was already paid off and I’m painting, but I wanted to be with Dana. So, the puzzle was how to get her in my situation, a place that’s paid off so the only thing you have to do is paint. I just have to paint well, until I die because everything else is taken care of. Because I got my little condo in Adams Morgan for like $65,000. This was back when Marion Barry was mayor! DC is a different place now.

BYT: How many artists are in residence here?

Dana: Twelve units. I applied and was like, ‘Can you imagine?’ And a good many months went by before I found out that I was then chosen among fifty. I was picked second do I got second pick on the unit. With this unit, the sunlight sold me. I have since paid it off. Everyday since I moved in here I put more towards the mortgage, like every penny. I’m like, ‘I don’t need anything’. I live simply. I don’t need clothes, I don’t need extra food. We didn’t go out that often. I just threw every dime I had into that mortgage and I paid it off.

And so now we are two people who live separately and have paid off places in two apartments in great neighborhoods, and we don’t want to live together. We each have ideal lives separately and Matt gets the benefit of having this as home and that as studio and home and I have no interest. I’m so happy he has the Matt Sesow fortress. And there have been discussions over the years, like ‘You should come over more often, you should paint here’ and I’m like, “It’s yours.”

BYT: You started dating in what year?

Dana: 2001

BYT: Where had you been living before you scored this studio?

Dana: I had been living in a great place, in not such a great place at the time. At Naylor Court, so that’s like 9th and O. When I looked at this place, it was a carriage house, in an alley, on Naylor Court, 1200 square feet for very little money. I was working still at the law firm at the time. It was seedy and icky and you walk out the door in the morning and there was condoms and cat poo and needles and contacts, but the rent was cheap and it was 1200 square feet and for me it was an inroads to, ‘This is cheap enough and you have all this space to paint and to teach classes’, and it gave me kind of an out to my job. The first time Matt came to visit, I think he got lost and scared…like, ‘what are you doing living here?’

Matt: Like, at the time there wasn’t a reason

BYT: Why didn’t you want to move into his place?

Dana: Ehh, it’s too small. It’s too small and we even knew at that point… Even if this was his place… no. When you see how messy his place is, you will understand better. But, even after we are married, we’re not moving in together. And it’s because, from a health perspective on all fronts. We knew that back then. There’d be no living together. If we bought a house that was big enough, but then, how do you afford a house that’s big enough to separate each other?

BYT: So what do you do? Do you have sleepovers at each others places?

Dana: Three nights a week he’s here.

BYT: And then the other nights you’re there?

Dana: Oh no! In the six years since I have lived in this place, I have stayed there once. And you know why? Because I was too blackout drunk to make it home. I couldn’t make it home. We went to his place and I just couldn’t.

Working Together

BYT: Have you always painted together?

Dana: Yeah, since the beginning, but the process of painting together has changed.

Matt: Well, I will paint at my place for three or four days in my own reality. And then, I come over here and I’m like, “Hi Honey!” then I just sit at the table with the cat on my lab and pull out a little piece of paper and I sketch something quietly from like a People magazine photo or perhaps I just color. I do very quiet paintings here while we watch movies… Saturday Night Live Seasons 1-5 is very key. Saturday Night Live, Belushi and Aykroyd are key.

Dana: In the early days of being together there was a figuring out period of how we were going to work together.

Matt: I was like, “I need to be that aggressive guy!”

BYT: Because you were performing for her? Or is that how you actually worked before?

Dana: That’s how he worked.

Matt: Yeah, for like ten years before I met her.

Dana: I’m not noisy and raucous and when Matt works, he kind of gets himself in a tizzy. Which is fine for him to do at his studio but if he were to tizzy himself up in my space… it just isn’t the way we do it like that here.

On Love

BYT: What do you find is the most special thing about your partner?

Dana: GIGANTIC PENIS! (laughter) I’m sorry, I had to say that.

Matt: That’s great, thank you. There are many special things about Dana. Dana is a healer. She gave me some kinda “OK-ness” and she has a sense of humor. But that “OK-ness” she gave me is the most important. It makes me blush. It’s all about me being in love when I was six years old all the way up to 40 years old. It’s that boy to man feeling of love and acceptance. It’s like mother, seriously. But, in a girlfriend. It’s love; it’s sex; and it’s trust. It’s whatever that word is. That’s what she gave me.

I love her. I love Dana. That’s the best part. That’s what it is. It’s not a painting, it’s nothing. I mean, I’ve tried to express it – guardian angels, and dismembered hands with bones sticking out. But, to actually have a woman who sees me as attractive as a one handed man, who sees me as a man. That’s so fucking strong. You know?

BYT: Do you feel like together that you’re like invincible? Hearing you guys talk about how you went to go get you marriage license and how you guys are in your own little world and God forgive anyone that comes between you or or the world you are trying to create.

Dana: Nothing’s invincible.

Matt: No I don’t think so at all. I think we are very realistic and we know bad things are gonna happen. Shit’s gonna happen. People probably want us to fail. I’m sure they do. I’m sure other artists want us to fail. No, I’m serious. I know people want me to do poor, and want Dana to do poorly because we have a lot of success and I understand that, it’s human nature. To want us to fail is fine. And we accept that.

Dana: I think it’s human nature, too. To think from a pop culture point of view, take Tiger Woods. People thirst on waiting for it to fall down.

Matt: I mean, we’re very open with the Internet. Everybody knows every painting I have done. I think people would like my life. I mean, my life isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty happy. They look at what I do and think it’s very easy. When I looked at paintings when I first started to paint, I’d go to museums, and I’d say, “I can do that!”. I was the same way! I thought, “I can do Pollock!” But, you know what I did, I went and watch the documentaries on Andy Warhol and others, and, you have to watch their lives. Their lives are what’s important. Look at Frida and Diego, they had a fucking bridge between their two houses. That’s what we’re doing! We are doing that.

Kids that want to be painters need to to step up and say, “Alright, what have I done in my life?” If you’re sitting around playing XBox all day get the fuck out and go travel. Take all of your belongings and go to Haiti and go hang out. But, you need to bring something unique to the situation. Being a vintage artist is very deadly. It’s deadly. Do not be a vintage artist. You need to be a unique artist, with your own unique experiences, because that’s what makes you an artist. Not, “Oh! I’m gonna dress like that person. Or, I’m gonna be like that!” You have to take your art and make it yours, in your time frame. It’s 2010. It’s not 1977!! It’s over man!

BYT: It’s like how cell phones mimic the sound of a shutter when you take a camera photo- young artists mimic the art of others without having the substance and emotion that drove that art originally.

Dana: Yeah, to be an artist you have to do your own personal research. You can’t just Google that. There is no instant gratification for personal experience.

Matt: We’re the first couple, artists, that I know of, … we’re taking all of over traditions an everything and we’re getting married at our show. And we’re selling paintings for next to nothing. Who else is willing to do that? People are like, “Oh! My agents won’t let me do that! My gallery won’t let me do that.” But, we’re just like fuck it!

Dana: It’s our choice.

Matt: So, we’re taking our moment and we’re saying, “This is what we want to do.” Artist kids! You need to do this, and just say ‘Fuck the history! Fuck it!’ And make your own fucking history.You don’t regurgitate bullshit that’s already happened. It’s so sad.

BYT: What cultural influences do you see currently that posses that spirit?

Matt: Al Jazeera! aljazeeraenglish.net! Democracynow.net. These are all things that kids can get online. These are news sources without commercials, just news!

His Studio

BYT: You have been in here since when?

Matt: 2000

BYT: And were you looking to buy a place?

Matt: Yeah. Well, I had a place upstairs when I was married, to someone else, not Dana, and I bought this place from this man who was an architect who used to just come during the day to work here. So, I was going to make this just my art studio, and then live upstairs. But, then divorce happened and I was like, yeah, let’s just sell that place upstairs, and I just moved down here, just me.

BYT: Has it always been in this incarnation?

Matt: This chaos? Umm, no. I’ve changed it a lot, but I have always pretty much painted on this wall and the table situation has been different. Eventually, the table will become a painting and I will paint on the table. But, that’s my clean painting area, and this is my messy area.

BYT: So, if there was a fire and you had to grab five things from here, what would you grab? Five things only.

Matt: My USB drive, which does constant backups. I would grab my XBox games. I’m right now playing Dragon Age, I’m like a huge nerd wizard. Probably, my laptop. Ummm, that’s probably it, just three things. I couldn’t even think of five. If I could take the whole space with me, that would be nice. But, I’d just get the hell out and move on to the next thing.

BYT: What are your work habits? Like, when you work, do you work in manic sprees? Do you segment your time?

Matt: I can always paint. There’s like painting with inspiration and there’s painting for project. So, if I’m paining for When I’m doing it, like for this wedding show, I’m doing 20 paintings, it’s fun, but I will push myself a little harder, because every painting is a little harder. I can’t slack off. I’ll start painting like 8 o’clock. After I have a quick chat with Dana, It’s usually a 13 hour day.

BYT: What’s the happiest moment you’ve had in this space?

Matt: Uhh, well non-Dana related, I remember when I was going to be in the Visionary Museum in one of their exhibits, I got REALLY, really, really, really happy. I know it was around Christmas time and I had this big tin of popcorn, and I was really drunk and kicking it around and the neighbors actually called the cops on me. That was around 2002, 2003. And then with Dana, it was after our first little date, I brought her over here and made her watch all of my films, it was really nice. I mean, there’s a lot of really happy times with Dana.

BYT: So, you brought your date over to watch some movies? What did you think?

Dana: I just remember we drank a lot of Caribbean drinks, and then he invited me up and we watched his films. And we didn’t even kiss.

BYT: Can you see yourself moving from this location? (to Matt)

Matt: No. I would want to always keep this place no matter what, until I am dead. If it was still in DC, if I could something for free, because I can’t see myself moving around and paying all of that money. This is fine. This fits the style that I do. I can go rent a place in foreign country if I need to.

BYT: Have you created your most important art in this studio?

Matt: Yes, but I would say that I began doing my best work when I started going out with Dana.

BYT: Why do you think that is?

Matt: It’s just the person that she is, it’s given me self-confidence. She makes me feel good about myself and I can see progress, I can see the future with her where we’re gonna continue. If we just continue like this, I am so fine.

BYT: Dana, how has Matt changed you as a painter?

Dana: He’s taught me to loosen up, to just do it, not thinking so much about it. Being more creative, being more emotional. In art class, they don’t teach you to let loose, they teach you technique. And it helps me so much to just remember, I have like a little Matt sitting on my shoulder when I over think something and it’s like, “Don’t worry about it, just do it. If the person doesn’t fit, just cut off their leg!”

BYT: How do you think things are going to change after you get married?

Dana: I mean it really doesn’t get any better than this. This would be great forever.

Matt: I’m happy. I make enough money. I mean, I’m not wealthy with these paintings. But, I’m wealthy and happy with the freedom that she gives me.

“Till Death Do Us Part” is the second BYT Year In Art Spotlight Exhibit.

February 5 – March 1
Dana Ellyn and Matt Sesow – details here
Opening Reception: February 5th, 2010 6:30-9:30pm
Where do two artists meet and fall in love? At an art show, of course. On Friday, February 5, from 6:30 – 9:30 PM, two of Washington, DC’s most celebrated local artists will tie the knot at Long View Gallery at 1234 9th St NW. During the opening night reception for Dana Ellyn and Matt Sesow’s “Till Death Do Us Part” art exhibition, the long-time couple will exchange nuptials. The couple is inviting all of DC’s artists, collectors, and art enthusiasts to the public event.

Check out our previous YiA story about Call+Response here and other inside the Artist Studio stories here (Andrew Wodzianski) and here (Adam de Boer)

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