Artists like Breanne Trammell make me happy to be alive. Seriously. When I first looked through the work on her site, I found myself laughing in the best possible way. And for a long time.

Her work is filled with seeming contradictions: whimsical yet sincere, personal yet universal, funny yet somehow still serious.

I met her via The Wassaic Project. She also did a residency here and became just as enchanted by this little hamlet as I have become. So she moved here. During our visit we talked about community, leaving the city, and the relationship of artist to practice to location. Specifically in a place as small as Wassaic, human connections are forged and nurtured in a different reality. By convention and desire, but also by necessity. It is a reality that exists in its own time, by its own measure. It is neither “slow” nor “fast” it’s just, unique. Anyhoo, as part of a sort of service to the community up here, in addition to her regular practice Breanne has been making posters for various events around town. At the fire station and the bar, for example (which are pretty much the *only* venues in town). The posters are silkscreened using images from the Wassaic Fire House archives. They’re well designed, and made with care and attention.

As was this awesome rainbow Cheeto hanging above her window. I mean, it’s just a Cheeto, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t just make me smile with a sort of reckless joy.

Trammell also made one of my favorite videos that I came across last year, Yves Klein Blue Jeans (2010). It’s really amazing on so many levels. A one-liner with so much more, the piece has stayed with me. Watch it here. It’s so simple yet perfectly executed.

Ok I could go on, instead, head over to her site. There is a lot to dig through, and in my not so humble opinion, it’s well worth your time.

Oh, she’s also great on Twitter.