Bycatch, By Hand at P Street Gallerie, Washington DC

The collaboration

Dana Ellyn & Lucy Tammam

Lucy Tammam is a London couture designer who works in ethical and sustainable fashion. She and Ellyn took as their starting point the Lobster Dress that Salvador Dalí and Elsa Schiaparelli designed for Wallis Simpson, and turned from there to the sea and to bycatch: the fish and other animals caught unintentionally by commercial fishing, then discarded.

The collaboration produced three pieces: two dresses designed and assembled by Tammam then hand painted by Ellyn, and a painting by Ellyn that Tammam hand-stitched. Tammam came to Washington first, where the work had its debut at P Street Gallerie.

They also printed scarves together, using a linoleum block Ellyn carved, on Tammam scarves.

Detail of the tulle Bycatch, By Hand gown, hand painted by Dana Ellyn with blue and purple fish — Painted fish on the tulle gown

The skirts of the two Bycatch, By Hand gowns side by side, painted with orange and blue fish — The two skirts, hand painted by Ellyn

Lisa Brown, owner of P Street Gallerie, wearing a cream scarf block-printed with fish — Lisa Brown, owner of P Street Gallerie, in one of the block-printed scarves

Painting the dresses

In Ellyn’s studio

Ellyn hand painted both dresses in her studio at Mather Studios, 916 G St NW.

A cream skirt spread out in Dana Ellyn’s studio, partly painted with orange and red fish — A skirt in progress in Ellyn’s studio

Wearing the work

Ellyn & Tammam, modeling

Ellyn and Tammam modeled the collaborative pieces themselves for a photo shoot.

Dana Ellyn and Lucy Tammam in the two painted gowns beside a stone lion by a brick wall — In Georgetown

Dana Ellyn and Lucy Tammam posing in the painted gowns outside a brick storefront — In Georgetown

Close view of Dana Ellyn and Lucy Tammam smiling in the painted halter tops of the gowns — Ellyn and Tammam

Dana Ellyn and Lucy Tammam holding out the painted skirts on a cobblestone street with old streetcar tracks — On a cobblestone street in Georgetown

Dana Ellyn and Lucy Tammam in the painted gowns outside the entrance to P Street Gallerie — Outside P Street Gallerie

Lucy Tammam in the tulle gown painted with blue fish, standing on the brick sidewalk — Tammam outside the gallery

Lucy Tammam in the tulle gown standing on a cobblestone street lined with parked cars — On the streetcar tracks

Dana Ellyn and Lucy Tammam in the painted gowns by a stone lion and a brick wall — In Georgetown

Dana Ellyn and Lucy Tammam in the painted gowns inside P Street Gallerie, beside a fish painting — Inside P Street Gallerie

Two paintings

Fast Fashion · Meet Your Makers

To prepare for the shows, Ellyn watched The True Cost, a documentary about the people who make our clothes. It inspired two paintings, Fast Fashion and Meet Your Makers, which she showed in both Washington and Los Angeles.

In both images, the women who work on our apparel are given a front row seat at the fashion show – as long as they keep sewing.
Bel Esprit's Beautiful World, 2017

Fast Fashion

Acrylic on canvas · 30 × 20 in. · 2016

Painted after Ellyn watched The True Cost: the cost of fast fashion, paid by the people who sew it.

Meet Your Makers

Acrylic on canvas · 30 × 24 in. · 2016

A companion to Fast Fashion, introducing the garment workers behind the clothes on the runway.

In the gallery

Ellyn’s paintings and Tammam’s couture

Ellyn showed about 100 paintings: a new series on the animals a typical American eats in a year, along with recent paintings on human and animal rights. Tammam showed couture from her current collection, made with sustainable materials and fair trade artisan fabric, along with hand printed peace silk scarves, silver brooches and hand crafted ties.

Dana Ellyn paintings on the gallery wall, including Fast Fashion and Meet Your Makers — Fast Fashion and Meet Your Makers on the gallery wall

Four couture pieces by Lucy Tammam hanging on a white gallery wall — Tammam’s couture

A wall of rooster paintings and drawings by Dana Ellyn — Rooster paintings

A group of paintings by Dana Ellyn of children and pigs — Paintings by Ellyn

Two paintings by Dana Ellyn, a girl with a cow and a boy holding a chicken — Paintings by Ellyn

Two paintings by Dana Ellyn hanging unframed on the gallery wall — Paintings by Ellyn

A wall of paintings by Dana Ellyn by the gallery window — Paintings by Ellyn

Paintings by Dana Ellyn above a shelf of greeting cards — Paintings and cards

Fish prints

Linoleum block prints, edition of 40

Ellyn also offered linoleum block fish prints in a limited edition of 40, signed and numbered. From each print sold, $5 was donated to the organization Fish Feel.

Rows of colored linoleum block fish prints by Dana Ellyn clipped to strings on the gallery wall — Ellyn’s linoleum block fish prints at P Street Gallerie

Opening night

Friday, April 1, 2016

The opening reception was held at P Street Gallerie on April 1 at 6 pm, and the show was also open the following day.

Announcement for Bycatch, By Hand, April 1st and 2nd at P Street Gallerie, Washington, DC — The show announcement

The P Street Gallerie entrance at dusk, with a sign on the brick sidewalk — P Street Gallerie at dusk, opening night

The hanging P Street Gallerie Georgetown sign on a white brick building — The gallery sign

Lucy Tammam shaking hands with a guest at the opening — Tammam greets a guest

Lucy Tammam beside the painted tulle gown on a dress form — Tammam beside the tulle gown

Dana Ellyn laughing with guests in the crowded gallery — Ellyn with guests

Lucy Tammam talking with a guest in front of the rooster paintings — By the rooster paintings

Lucy Tammam and a guest talking beside the couture pieces on the wall — Beside Tammam’s designs

Guests talking in front of Fast Fashion and Meet Your Makers — In front of Fast Fashion and Meet Your Makers

A crowded gallery during the opening reception — A full room

Opening guests in the gallery with the painted tulle gown in the foreground — Guests and the tulle gown

A guest looking at the rooster paintings on the gallery wall — Looking at the rooster paintings

Fashion illustration

A class led by Lucy Tammam

During her visit, Tammam led a fashion illustration class at P Street Gallerie, with the gowns as models.

Lucy Tammam pinning a sketch to the gallery wall during the fashion illustration class — Tammam pins up a sketch

Students sketching the painted gown in P Street Gallerie — The class at P Street Gallerie

Two students drawing the painted tulle gown on its dress form — Sketching the tulle gown

Fashion sketches laid out on the white wooden gallery floor — Sketches on the gallery floor

View through the gallery to the class at work — The class, from the front room

Dana Ellyn, Lisa Brown and Lucy Tammam smiling together in the gallery — Ellyn, Lisa Brown and Tammam

A second class

At Ellyn’s studio

A second class was held at Ellyn’s studio.

A drawing class in Dana Ellyn’s studio, with students at easels and a painted gown on a dress form — The second class, at Ellyn’s studio at Mather Studios

On to Los Angeles

Moda 360 · April 4–5, 2016

From Washington, Ellyn and Tammam traveled together to Los Angeles, where the two Bycatch, By Hand gowns closed the Moda 360 runway at The New Mart during Los Angeles Market Week.

Bycatch, By Hand at Moda 360 →

In the press

Bycatch, By Hand in print

HuffPost UK · March 21, 2016 · by Lucy Tammam

Fashion, Art and Sustainability

“We also loved that the theme goes so well with the collaboration Dana and I are working on – our art / fashion collection inspired by bycatch and the fishing industry.”Lucy Tammam

Read the article →