Sculpting with Clothing Since 2002

Statement

Derick Melander creates large geometric sculptures from carefully folded and stacked second-hand clothing. He sorts the garments by hue, color, value, or intensity and arranges them to create patterns and gradients. These clothing sculptures often take the form of columns, walls, and enclosures, typically weighing between eight hundred pounds and two tons.

As our clothing wears, fades, stains, and stretches, it becomes an intimate record of our lived experience. When it’s discarded, it still carries a trace of us and perhaps a bit of our energy as well. Derick creates sculptures from these cast-offs. As they grow and the layers of clothing accumulate, the individual garments are compressed into a single mass. This symbolic gesture explores the conflicted space between society and the individual, a space that is ceaselessly broken and reconstituted.

For Derick, the process of sorting, folding and stacking adds a layer of meaning to the work. When he comes across a dress with a hand-sewn repair or a coat with a name written inside the collar, he is reminded that these works are like collective portraits.

Derick’s goal is to celebrate and honor both the individual and the community in each work he creates.

Press Quotes

"These sculptures offer cogent commentary on a cultural phenomenon; as well, they embody a formal intelligence that makes them deeply satisfying as visual art."

"I consider Melander a colourist working in the abstract expressionist offshoots of colour field and hard edge work…It is in the stacking that his joyful colour work is created. Using no dye, and relying on the range of colours that have been in the fashion market, his selection and placement of colour is simply brilliant. The work changes in colour as you look up across and around the corners of the cube, going from dark at the bottom, anchoring the work to the floor on which it sits, drifts in layers of dark to light to dark again, with swirls and diagonal shifts of colour that are as complex and subtle as a Turner landscape."

“The largest and most physically impressive sculpture in the show, six-foot-tall, neatly squared and color-spectrumed columns of used clothing called “The Painful Spectacle of Finding Oneself,” is by Derick Melander, you have to stop yourself from nodding in mute acknowledgement.”

“Soterios Johnson, regarding Q4 at the Queens Museum: “What stood out for you?” Carolina Miranda: “There were a number of pieces, a tower by Derick Melander made out of used folded clothing…He creates color diagrams out of old clothes and through the process of the show he’s going to be making a second tower from clothing that people bring to the museum…I think it really gets at this whole idea of using found objects, using things that might be cast-off and giving them another life.”

“Derick Melander surprises with a stunning circular sculpture made of stacks of folded secondhand clothing. It raises, in my mind, all kinds of questions about affluence, idealism, social mobility – the kind of things that clothes signify in our culture.”

“The painstakingly folded and architecturally stacked works of Derick Melander form ramparts, coliseums, and rubble in a separate alcove of the exhibition. Melander’s accompanying preparatory drawings suggest plans for structures made of stone and logs. But when his plans are fleshed out, they are tenderly, interdependently built instead from cast-off clothing. For Melander, these building components are amassed surrogates for society."

“Possibly the iconic work of the show is Derick Melander’s “Grasp II,” a partially open circle comprised of layers of stacked clothing over six feet high. Peaks of denim, argyle, stripes and straps can be seen in an effort to express the dynamics of social networks and to define boundaries within relationships. Given the size and character of this sculpture, along with its ability to interact with the viewer, it commands a captivating presence within the art space.”

Biography

Derick Melander was born in Saratoga Springs, NY. He earned his B.F.A. from The School of Visual Arts, where he was the recipient of the Chairman’s Grant. His work has been reviewed in The New York Times, Vogue, GQ and NPR. He has shown extensively in the U.S. with special projects for The City of San Francisco and The City of New York.

Recently, Derick had a solo show at CAS in Livingston Manor, NY and was a visiting artist at Fashion Institute of Technology and Parsons School of Design. He completed commissions for The Chapman Perelman Foundation in NYC, Circular Library in Los Angeles, Swire Properties in Hong Kong, and Diesel in Paris, France.

In 2021 and 2023 he was awarded grants from New York Foundation of The Arts and Queens Council on The Arts to create monumental clothing sculptures in the public realm of Queens, NY.

In February 2024, he will attend an artist residency and install a solo show at Museo Pedro Coronel in Zacatecas, Mexico.

Derick spends his time in Queens and Callicoon Center.

Derick’s clothing sculptures are in the following corporate collections:

American Eagle Outfitters, San Francisco
California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
The Chapman Perelman Foundation, NYC
Diesel Clothing Company, Breganze, Italy
Eileen Fisher, NYC

Levi Strauss & Co., San Francisco, CA
PAI Fashion, Washington DC
San Francisco Department of the Environment
Swire Properties, Hong Kong
Toms, Playa Del Rey, CA

Resume

Upcoming

03/2025 Artist residency & solo show, Museo Pedro Coronel, Zacatecas, Mexico
05/2025 Two-person show with Kelly Reemtsen, Gallery Oxholm, Pile Allé 25, 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark

Selected Exhibitions

11/2024 “Fantastical Films” (group screening), Callicoon Theatre, 30 Upper Main St, Callicoon, NY. Curated by Elizabeth Ennis.
05/2023 “Color Thread Cloth” (group show), curated by Somewhere.co, The Darby, 9 Manor Drive, Beach Lake, PA
09/2023 “To Reshuffle The Sun”, Public art installation sponsored by NYFA for Travers Park, Jackson Heights, NY
05/2023 “The Table” (group show), Level Art Gallery, Rockella, 1639 Centre St. Queens NY
12/2022 Off Brand (group show), Art Therapy, 84-26 37th Ave, Queens, NY
04/2022 Solo show, CAS – Catskill Art Space, 65 Main St, Livingston Manor, NY
10/2021 “The Witness”, Public art installation sponsored by NYFA for Diversity Plaza & Travers Park, Jackson Heights, NY
10/2019 Solo show, Gallery 77, 35-57 77th Street, Jackson Heights, NY
09/2019 Solo show & public art commission, The Queens Council on the Arts, 35-59 82nd Street, Jackson Heights, NY
07/2019 Public art commission, Central and Western District Council, 30 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong
06/2019 Solo show, Love, Henry / Public Swim, 105 Henry Street, NY, NY
03/2019 Public art commission, Swire Properties,
Wing Fung Street, 3 Pacific Place, Starstreet Precinct, Hong Kong
11/2018 Commission, Chapman Perelman Foundation, Change Fashion, Urban Zen 705 Greenwich Street, New York, NY
9/2018 3-part commission, Eileen Fisher, Brooklyn, Seattle & Detroit
10/2017 Commission, Diesel, YIA Art Fair, Paris, France
09/2016 Window installation, David Klein Gallery, 1520 Washington Blvd, Detroit, MI
09/2016 Commission, Tyler School of Art, Temple University 2001 North 13th Street Philadelphia, PA
12/2015 “The Lost Mitten” Solo show, The Left Bank Gallery, 24 Linden St., Geneva, NY, Curated by Gabriella D’Angelo
05/2015 “Rijswijk Textile Biennial 2015” Museum Rijswijk, Herenstraat 67, Rijswijk, The Hague, Netherlands, Curated by Anne Kloosterboer
03/2015 “Aandacht! Aandacht!”, de Warande, Warandestraat 42, Turnhout, Belgium, Curated by Annelies Nagels
03/2014 “Soft”, The Center for Contemporary Art, 2020 Burnt Mills Road, Bedminster, NJ, Curated by Wes Sherman
01/2014 “Zero Waste”, American Eagle Outfitters/I:CO/City of San Francisco (press event and store installation), 865 Market St #148, San Francisco, CA
09/2013 ”Debris Field”, Castle Gallery at The College of New Rochelle, 29 Castle Place, New Rochelle, NY, Curated by Lisa Dahl
12/2012 “Flux Factory’s 2012 Not-So-Silent Auction” 79 Walker Street, New York, NY, curated by Christina Vassallo
01/2012 “Textility”, Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, 68 Elm St., Summit, NJ, Curated by Mary Birmingham and Joanne Mattera
04/2011 Commission, ”Greening the Fashion Industry”, NRDC, The Colonial Club, 564 Park Avenue, New York, NY
03/2011 Commission, ”Zero Waste”, Columbia College, A & D Gallery, 615 S. Wabash Avenue, Chicago, IL, Curated by Arti Sandhu
02/2011 Commission, The Show with PAI & Tom’s Shoes), Mandaly Bay, Las Vegas, NV
10/2010 Solo Show, University of Maryland, Campus Dr & Union Ln, College Park, MD, curated by Jackie Milad
02/2010 Commission, Friends Seminary School, 222 East 16th St., New York, NY
02/2010 Special project, Scope, Miami, with ADA Gallery, 228 West Broad St., Richmond, VA
12/2009 ”Homesick”, Carnegie Art Museum, 424 South C Street, Oxnard, CA, Curated by Trujillo/Paumier
10/2009 ”System:System”, Saint Cecilia Parish, 21 Monitor St., Brooklyn, NY, Curated by Adam Henry and Christina Vassallo
10/2009 Guest Artist, ”October”, Vox Populi Gallery,
319 North 11th Street, Philadelphia, PA, Curated by Sam Farnsworth
07/2009 “Green Brooklyn…Green City”, Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon St, Brooklyn, NY, Special project with Council on Environment of New York City
07/2009 “Dress Codes: Clothing as Metaphor in Contemporary Art”, Katonah Museum of Art, 134 Jay Street, Katonah, NY, Curated by Barbara Bloemink
05/2009 ”Derick Melander & Sarah Trigg”, ADA Gallery, 228 West Broad St., Richmond, VA
01/2009 ”Queens International”, Queens Museum, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, NY, curated by Jose Ruiz and Erin Sickler
01/2009 “Immaterial”, Black and White Gallery, 636 West 28th St., Ground Floor, New York, NY
11/2008 Special project, ”Scope, Miami”, with ADA Gallery, 228 West Broad St., Richmond, VA
11/2008 Auction, Black and White Project Space, 483 Driggs Ave., Brooklyn, NY
07/2008 ”Of the Cloth”, The Shore Institute of the Contemporary Arts, 20 3rd Ave., Long Branch, NJ, Curated by Douglas Ferrari
05/2008 ”The One and the Many”, Repetti Gallery, 44-02 23rd St., L.I.C., New York, NY
12/2007 ”Art Now, Miami”, with Repetti Gallery,44-02 23rd St., L.I.C., New York, NY
12/2007 ”Shift (re-mix)”, Gallery Aferro, 73 Market Street, Newark, NJ, Curated by Erik Guzman
11/2007 ”Site Matters: Brooklyn Represents” (film program), Brooklyn Arts Council, 55 Washington St., Brooklyn, NY, Curated by Lauren Schell & Julie McKim
09/2007 ”Host”, The Soap Factory, 518 2nd St. SE, Minneapolis, MN, Curated by Elizabeth Grady, the Whitney Museum
03/2007 ”Imagined Worlds” (w/ Smudge Studio), LMCC, 125 Maiden Lane, New York, NY., Curated by Jeanne Gerrity
02/2007 ”Red Dot, New York”, with Repetti Gallery, 44-02 23rd St., L.I.C., New York, NY
01/2007 ”Alter & Circulate”, Mickey’s Blue Room, 171 Avenue C, New York, NY
11/2006 Commission for large-scale cut paper mural, Jack (restaurant), 80 University Place, New York, NY
10/2006 ”Laminae”, Rosenberg Gallery, Goucher College, 1021 Dulaney Valley Road, Baltimore, MD, Curated by Jackie Milad
09/2006 ”Growing Up in Public”, Repetti Gallery, 44-02 23rd Street, Long island City, NY, Curated by Rossana Martinez
03/2006 ”O”, The Berrie Center, Ramapo College, 505 Ramapo Valley Rd., Mahwah, NJ, Curated by Christina Vassallo and Matt Fisher
12/2005 ”(t)here. New York”, Solyanka Gallery, Solyanka Ulitsa ½, Moscow, Russia, Curated by Alexandra Lerman
11/2005 ”O”, The Shore Institute of the Contemporary Arts, 20 3rd Ave., Long Branch, NJ, Curated by MatCh-Art
08/2005 ”Derick Melander / Lyon Smith”, Diamonds & Oranges, 156 1st Ave., New York, NY
02/2005 ”Bound_less” The Stenersen Museum, Oslo, Norway, a conceptual group show created by Jan Christensen
12/2004 ”Spectra”, Project Creo, The Pier, 3rd Fl., 800 2nd Ave. N.E., St. Petersburg, Fl
12/2004 ”Postcards From the Edge”, Visual AIDS, (at Brent Sikkema) 526 W. 26th St., New York, NY
04/2004 ”Art Star/Sausage Factory”, Debs & Co, 525 W. 26th St., New York, NY
12/2003 ”Night of 1,000 Drawings”, Artists Space, 38 Greene St., New York, NY
12/2003 ”What The Whitney Don’t Know”, TAG Projects, 70 Washington St., Dumbo, Brooklyn, NY
10/2003 ”Works On Paper”, 800 Gallery, 70 Washington St., Dumbo, Brooklyn, NY
10/2003 ”Small Works”, Jason Silva, 163 Carlton Ave., Brooklyn, NY
08/2002 ”Visions International”, Art Center Waco, Waco, TX, Juror: Peter Frank

Press/Publications

02/2025 Textile Curator, Featured artist with interview by Helen Adams.
03/2024 WJFF Radio, Interview with Megan Udel for The Morning Show with Valerie Mansi 09/2023 Selvedge Magazine, “To Reshuffle the Sun”.
05/04/22 Allen Edmonds, “AE100: Portraits in Style and Culture – Meet Derick Melander”
03/20/22 The Let it Out Podcast, Katie Dalebout, “Social Butterflies and Dreamwork with Textile Artist Derick Melander”
10/20/21 QNS.com, Benedetta Tomaselli, “New sculpture installation in Jackson Heights to pay tribute the people of New York City”
07/13/21 Epicenter-NYC, Nitin Mukul, “Featured Artist”
07/20/20 The Listen Podcast, Kate Jetmore, “Artist Derick Melander on Getting Unstuck”
04/01/20 Selvedge Magazine, Laura Gray, “Piled High”, Issue 93
2019, English
06/23/19 Textile Art Forum, Grietje van der Veen, “Upcycling”
03/20/19 RTHK Radio (live radio interview), James Ross, “Derick Melander – Central & Western District Festival”
03/21/19 Hive Life (feature), Christy C, “Fashioning Art from Old Clothes”
03/22/19 Home Journal (feature), Cherry Lai, “New York Artist Derick Melander Turns Old Clothing Into Stunning Towers of Art”
03/27/19 Hong Kong Heartbeat (round up), Keilem Ng, “Eco Art Basel”
2019, Chinese
03/22/19 Milk Magazine, Text: Winsome Lau, Photography: Sirus Wong, “Derick Melander at Starstreet Precinct”
03/20/19 Fine Door (feature), Lin Guocai, “當藝術家在堆疊這些布料時，喚醒公眾對於廢棄紡織品及世界事物「可持續性」的反省”
03/27/19 ULifestyle, (feature) Deng Dazhi, “太古星街藝展民生”
04/08/19 Position News (feature), Zeng Jiahui, “觀中環街頭的回收衣物藝術品　知否知否香港現時氣氛如何”
03/18/19 Near Snake (feature), Editorial Desk, “星街小區：”You Are My Other Me” 大型環保藝術裝置”
2018 and Prior
12/02/18 Textielplus.nl, Dorothé Swinkels, “Blikvangers”
10/23/18 Visual Arts Journal, (feature) Diana McClure, “Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose: Making Sculpture with Nontraditional Materials”
08/22/18 The Bridge, (feature) Sara Lieberman, “Eileen Fisher Opens Her First Brooklyn Shop: Making Space..”
08/22/18 The Current, Daily, (feature) Bia Bezamataugust, “Eileen Fisher Concept Store..”
08/21/18 WWD, (feature) Sharon Edelson, “Experience Matters..”
10/20/17 Technikart Magazine, (feature) Gilles Petipas, “Diesel Auction..”
09/24/16 Detroit Art Review, (feature) Sarah Rose Sharp, “Domestic Transcendence”
06/16/16 Brutus Magazine, (feature) Momoko Ikeda
05/09/15 Rijswijkj Textiel Biennial, 2015, (catalogue) Frank van der Ploeg
05/01/15 Textielplus.nl, (feature) Dorothé Swinkels, “Kleren als bouwstenen”
08/19/15 Artlyst, (review) Joe Lewis “Playing With Space in Time”
09/01/12 Surface Design Journal (review) Patricia Malarcher, “Textility”
02/07/12 Coolture Magazine, (feature), “Moda Al Servicio Del Arte, Art a Porter”
05/03/11 Complex Magazine, (feature), “Show Stoppers”
03/04/11 ABC7 Chicago, (video/review) Hosea Sanders, “Columbia College teaches sustainable fashion”
03/01/11 Vogue, Korea, (feature)
03/01/11 Ruby – Otherworldliness, (book), Irana Douer, Gestalten
03/01/11 Derick Melander – Selected Works 2005 – 2010, (catalogue), University of Maryland, Stamp Gallery
09/02/10 GQ Style, (feature), Russia, Autumn-Winter 2010/11, with a photo by David Rinella
05/14/10 Ruby Magazine, (feature), Issue #43
05/03/10 Juxtapoz Magazine, (feature), Katie Zuppann, “Recycling Clothes with Derick Melander”
01/20/10 Trend Hunter Magazine, (feature), Megan Young, “Old Clothes as Art”
08/21/09 The New York Times, (review), Benjamin Genocchio, “All Dressed Up at the Katonah Museum of Art”
08/12/09 The Huffington Post, (review), Barbara Bloemink, “Dress Codes: Clothing as Metaphor”
08/09/09 WNET, (review), Christina Ha, “SundayArts News for 8/9/09”, “Dress Codes”
08/03/09 The New York Times, (review), Maura Egan, Style, “One Size Doesn’t Fit All”, “Dress Codes”
07/12/09 Katonah Museum of Art, (catalogue), Barbara Bloemink, “Dress Codes: Clothing as Metaphor”
01/27/09 The New York Times, (review), Holland Cotter, Art in Review, “Queens International 4”
01/27/09 The New Yorker, (review), Goings on about town, “Queens International 4”
01/27/09 NPR/WNYC, (review), WNYC Newsroom, “Queens International”, with Carolina Miranda from C-Monster.net
01/23/09 New York 1, Stephanie Simon, “Queens Museum Of Art Unveils Its Fourth Biennial”, review and video interview for “Queens International 4”
01/01/09 “Queens International 4”, (catalogue), Queens Museum of Art
01/15/08 Harriet, The Poetry Foundation, (feature), Kenneth Goldsmith, “Designer Label Poetry”, “Nomad”
09/15/07 Art Review & Preview, (review), Colleen Maynard, “A Short History of Twin Cities Art”, “Host”
12/13/06 Baltimore City Paper, (review), Deborah McLeod, “The Layers Club”, “Laminae”
01/01/06 The New York Times, (review), Benjamin Genocchio, “Exploring the Circle From Every Angle”, “O”
09/01/04 NY Arts Magazine, (review of show organized for TAG Projects), Christina Vassallo, “All’s Fair in Art and Politics”, “Death to the Fascist Insect that Preys on the Life of the People”
06/25/04 The New York Times, (review of show organized for TAG Projects), Holland Cotter, “Death to the Fascist Insect that Preys on the Life of the People”
08/01/02 Art Center Waco, (catalogue), “Visions International”

Curatorial Projects

11/2018 “Reservoir” (produced & curated), The Apple Barn, 51 Creamery Road, Callicoon, New York
01/2007 ”Alter & Circulate“ (produced & curated), Mickey’s Blue Room,
171 Avenue C, New York, NY, with TAG Projects
09/2006 ”Growing Up in Public” (produced with TAG Projects), Repetti, 44-02 23rd Street, 4th Floor, Long island City, NY
06/2004 ”Death to the Fascist Insect that Preys on the Life of the People” (produced & co-curated), TAG Projects, 70 Washington St., Dumbo, Brooklyn, NY
12/2003 ”What The Whitney Don’t Know” (produced & co-curated), TAG Projects, 70 Washington St., Dumbo, Brooklyn, NY
10/2003 ”Dumbo Paper Show” (marketing & sales), Mettle, 70 Washington St., Dumbo, Brooklyn, NY

Grants/Awards/Speaking Engagements

03/2024 Color, Thread, Cloth – Artist Talk, The Darby Hotel, Narrowsburg, NY. Curated by Somewhereco
11/2023 Wardrobe Revolution Weekend 2023 – Panel Discussion with Selvedge Magazine, on-line.
09/2023 New York Foundation of the Arts, New Works Grant
08/2023 Visiting Artist Lecture, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
10/2022 Aunt Karen’s Farm, Artist Residency, Mt. Vision, NY
Fall, 2022 New York Foundation of the Arts – City Artists Corps Grant, Queens Council on the Arts – New Works Grant
4/2020 Visiting Artist Lecture, Fashion Institute of Technology, Pomerantz Center, 227 W 27th St, New York, NY
Fall, 2019 Queens Council on the Arts – New Works Grant
07/2019 “Spend The Night” (artist talk), The Great Room, 23/F, One Taikoo Place, 979 King’s Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
05/2017 “JH Artist Talks: Jennifer Williams and Derick Melander”, Espresso 77, Jackson Heights, NY
11/2015 “The Lost Mitten” Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY, visiting artist project and lecture
11/2008 Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Artist Residency, 801 Third Corso, Nebraska City, NE
11/1991 Recipient of Chairman’s Grant, School of Visual Arts, N.Y., NY

Education

1991-94 Bachelor of Fine Arts, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, Majored in sculpture. Studied Under: Roni Horn, Peter Halley, Alice Aycock, Jackie Winsor, Paul Waldman, Stephen Westfall and Donald Kuspit.
1983-85 Associate Degree in Communications, Seton College, Westchester, NY. Majored in film and radio. Also: acting and music programming