Derick Melander was born in Saratoga Springs, NY in 1964. His father was an
abstract painter, known for combining unusual materials such as
polystyrene foam, house paint, mirrored glass and contact paper. He often accompanied his father to the studio and took ceramic and woodworking
classes as well. After high school, Derick moved to Philadelphia where he
worked as an assistant to the artist Jerry Goodman. During those years, Derick sang in a punk band and postered the streets with hand-printed
graphics and poems. In 1987, he moved to New York City, taught
nursery school and signed a lease on his first studio, where he still plan
and produce most of his work.
Derick earned his B.F.A. in 1994 from the School of Visual Arts, where he was the recipient of the Chairman’s Grant and had the opportunity to study with Roni Horn, Peter Halley, Alice Aycock and Donald Kuspit. A few years after graduating, he began a second career in advertising and currently freelance as a user experience designer. In 2002, Derick began to exhibit more regularly and co-founded the arts organization TAG Projects. As an organizer and curator, he produced 5 successful exhibitions. Since then, Derick has shown in New York at venues such as The Queens Museum or Art, The Katonah Museum, Black and White Gallery and Repetti. He has also shown at Carnegie Art Museum in California, the ADA Gallery in Virginia, the Soap Factory in Minnesota, as well as the Solyanka Gallery in Moscow.
In 2010 Derick was commissioned to do a special project with Friends Seminary School, NYC. he taught a workshop and folded 1,200 pounds of clothing with students, creating a monumental sculpture for the lobby. For a solo show at The University of Maryland, Derick created a 3 X 5 foot clothing stack on a wheeled base, enabling students to take the piece for daily walks around campus.
As clothing wears, fades, stains and stretches, it becomes an intimate record of our physical presence. It traces the edge of the body, defining the boundary between the self and the outside world.
The clothing used for these works is folded to precise dimensions with careful attention paid to the ordering of the garments. The sequencing can relate to the way clothing is layered on the body, it can be sorted by color, by gender or by the order that it was received. Individual components are sometimes connected together with shirt sleeves, pant legs and belts, creating bridge-like formations. Through these processes, I hope to engage the viewer and communicate the emotional resonance of second hand clothing.
For me, the process of folding and stacking the individual garments adds a layer of meaning to the finished piece. When I come across a dress with a hand-sewn repair or a coat with a name written inside the collar, the work starts to feel like a collective portrait. As the layers of clothing accumulate, the individual garments are compressed into a single mass, a symbolic gesture that explores the conflicted space between society and the individual, a space that is ceaselessly broken and re-constituted.
Work Cited: http://www.derickmelander.com/
Derick earned his B.F.A. in 1994 from the School of Visual Arts, where he was the recipient of the Chairman’s Grant and had the opportunity to study with Roni Horn, Peter Halley, Alice Aycock and Donald Kuspit. A few years after graduating, he began a second career in advertising and currently freelance as a user experience designer. In 2002, Derick began to exhibit more regularly and co-founded the arts organization TAG Projects. As an organizer and curator, he produced 5 successful exhibitions. Since then, Derick has shown in New York at venues such as The Queens Museum or Art, The Katonah Museum, Black and White Gallery and Repetti. He has also shown at Carnegie Art Museum in California, the ADA Gallery in Virginia, the Soap Factory in Minnesota, as well as the Solyanka Gallery in Moscow.
In 2010 Derick was commissioned to do a special project with Friends Seminary School, NYC. he taught a workshop and folded 1,200 pounds of clothing with students, creating a monumental sculpture for the lobby. For a solo show at The University of Maryland, Derick created a 3 X 5 foot clothing stack on a wheeled base, enabling students to take the piece for daily walks around campus.
Statement by Derick Melander regarding his work.
I create large geometric configurations from carefully
folded and stacked second-hand clothing. These structures take the form
of wedges, columns and walls, typically weighing between five hundred
pounds and two tons. Larger works are often site-responsive, creating
discrete environments.As clothing wears, fades, stains and stretches, it becomes an intimate record of our physical presence. It traces the edge of the body, defining the boundary between the self and the outside world.
The clothing used for these works is folded to precise dimensions with careful attention paid to the ordering of the garments. The sequencing can relate to the way clothing is layered on the body, it can be sorted by color, by gender or by the order that it was received. Individual components are sometimes connected together with shirt sleeves, pant legs and belts, creating bridge-like formations. Through these processes, I hope to engage the viewer and communicate the emotional resonance of second hand clothing.
For me, the process of folding and stacking the individual garments adds a layer of meaning to the finished piece. When I come across a dress with a hand-sewn repair or a coat with a name written inside the collar, the work starts to feel like a collective portrait. As the layers of clothing accumulate, the individual garments are compressed into a single mass, a symbolic gesture that explores the conflicted space between society and the individual, a space that is ceaselessly broken and re-constituted.
Work Cited: http://www.derickmelander.com/
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