“Denim can be seen as both democratic and capitalist. It stands for the freedom of the West, but also stands for the excess of the West.”
Most people choose their jeans, but for Ian Berry, jeans chose him. The artist remembers that when his journey with denim began, jeans were the only clothes he felt truly comfortable in; it was as if his body was trying to tell him something about the fabric. When he looked at a pile of jeans on the floor, he couldn’t help but notice how great the shades of blue looked together, so he began to cut them up. His love of denim became his art, and he soon found himself daydreaming about the faces of people he’d meet in shades of blue.
Berry’s work is often perceived to be blue-toned photographs or oil paintings because each piece is picture-perfect. His landscapes, portraits, and installations are packed with intricate details, but denim makes his work feel emotionally different from any other medium. “Even if most people seeing my work didn’t know me prior, or they don’t know it’s made of denim, I think there is something comfortable and welcoming about the material,” Berry explains. “I cannot tell you the amount of people that have come into a gallery or show and said, ‘normally I am so scared to walk in a gallery and would walk past, but something drew me in.'”
Denim is a universal material, but its symbolism is hard to pin down. “It can be seen as both democratic and capitalist. It stands for the freedom of the west but also stands for the excess of the west. Most of the world wears it. It transcends sex, borders, nationalities, and races, yet the duality of that is that it has become a bit boring. It’s lost its rebel edge and individual appeal,” says Berry. “It’s the material of our time. I don’t think there is a better material to portray the things we are going through.”
The fashion industry has been known to contribute majorly to waste worldwide, which is one of the reasons Berry describes his relationship with fashion as love/hate. Because his art is made from clothing, it’s easy to see a tie between him and the fashion world, “It’s just business and about a machine. I’ve tried to stay away a lot as it’s just my medium, not my message.”
As denim is a common textile worldwide, it makes up a significant percentage of landfills. So the jeans that may otherwise have been burned or added to waste piles, Berry gives new purpose through his art. He not only receives donations of jeans from people around the world, but denim brands and mills have started to send him boxes of damaged or excess materials.
Berry has been upcycling jeans for years, but he wants to emphasize the sustainability of his practice. He looks at the waste around him and determines what he can do with it. “I’m recycling and upcycling and all these words,” says Berry, “but I don’t overemphasize it. I don’t think I’m doing enough to warrant it. I want to be authentic.”
Berry’s utmost mission is to connect with people through his art. Denim happens to be the best way for him to tell his story. “I hope more people will see the work in real life as they have more connection with it than seeing it online.” Berry recently spoke at New York’s Fashionnovation. “It allowed more people to see the work in real life. I much prefer that real connection,” he explains. “I used to say jeans are for everyone, and so should art be.”
Images courtesy of Ian Berry
