It took 1,000 pairs of jeans to build this spherical sculpture in Riverhead
Artist Sherry Davis with her piece "Harvesting Memories in Blue" in Riverhead on Aug. 25. Credit: Morgan Campbell
As a girl growing up in 1960s Ohio, Sherry Davis wasn’t allowed to wear jeans, so she learned to sew.
At 16, she crafted her first pair — light blue hip-huggers with elephant bell bottoms.
"They were very cool," recalled Davis, 66, a Riverhead resident. "You had to walk up stairs very slowly or you would trip."
Davis didn’t know it then, but her affinity for sewing and denim rebellion laid the foundation for her life as a fiber artist and sculptor. Those passions converge in her latest work — a 12-foot geodesic sphere made from more than 1,000 pairs of upcycled blue jeans. It's now on display at the DeLea Sod Farm on Sound Avenue in Riverhead.
The eye-catching roadside sculpture is a focal point for those trekking to the North Fork as apple picking season begins. Davis hopes it will serve as a reminder to passersby of the grit and labor it takes to farm.
Inspired by memories of her aunt and uncle’s farm, Davis said the piece, "Harvesting Memories in Blue," honors the resourcefulness and work ethic of the farmers.
"Historically, denim was the clothing of workers, of miners, of farmers, ranchers," Davis said. "It’s about all this labor providing sustenance for us, keeping us alive."
Denim netting covers the structure, which Davis made from 75 wooden triangles nestled in a steel frame. Even the colors of the frame, a bright green and yellow, are a nod to John Deere tractors.
One recent afternoon, a tractor tilling in the distance kicked up a cloud of light brown dust that eventually settled on the denim nets. Davis amassed the 1,000-plus pairs of jeans from thrift stores and donations. She tore long strips up the legs — leaving the edges frayed — and knotted them around triangles in the sphere.
The process took about eight months and relied on a handful of volunteers to help tear the fabric.
The sphere was installed in late August on the south side of Sound Avenue across from Park Road, an engineering feat that required the help of her husband, Mark Alhadeff, and their son Daniel. It will be displayed until Sept. 15, Davis said.
"We essentially put it on roller skates," Alhadeff, 61, said, describing the nearly mile-long journey to transport the steel structure from their home off Park Road. Then, each triangle was installed and a solar light placed inside the structure to illuminate it at night.
The 40-acre farm is "the perfect location" for the installation, said Frank Beyrodt, a former Riverhead town councilman and executive vice president of DeLea Sod Farm.
"It’s a very interesting piece of art," he said.
Rob Carpenter, executive director at Long Island Farm Bureau, estimates there are about 3,000 acres of sod farms on Long Island. Davis' sculpture fits well with agriculture.
"It brings back our roots and our history of farming," Carpenter said.
Working with upcycled materials is a theme in Davis’s art.
While starting out as a young artist, Davis remembers calling up factories to see what they were getting rid of that she could use. Soon, she was weaving with raw rubber and coaxial cables and discarded fabric.
The amount of waste was "mind boggling" to see, she recalled.
"Textile waste is something that deeply bothers me," she said, both because of modern fast fashion and remembering how thrifty and frugal her grandmother was. "Nothing was wasted. Old clothing was cut into strips and made into rugs," Davis said.
Americans threw away 11.3 million tons of textiles — primarily discarded clothing — in 2018, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Davis built the sphere using a $2,500 grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. The Huntington Arts Council distributed the grant, among $374,000 in funding it provides to artists and other organizations each year, according to Patty Eljaiek, the council's grants coordinator.
The council selected Davis’ work for involving members of her community and reflecting themes of farming and sustainability.
"They loved the fact that she was connecting her personal history of where she grew up in the Midwest with local history here in Suffolk," she said.
The installation in a farm field coincides with Davis’ solo exhibition at East End Arts’ 11 West Gallery in Riverhead. It's slated to run from Sept. 21 to Oct. 13.
Davis said the sphere is too large to fit inside a gallery. She still plans to showcase how it was created and explore other art forms using denim.
After all, Davis has spent a dizzying amount of time with jeans for someone once barred from owning a pair.
"A lot of people have worn these pants. What’s their story? What did they put in their back pocket? What did they do for a living?" Davis wondered. "To me, that’s really curious."
As a girl growing up in 1960s Ohio, Sherry Davis wasn’t allowed to wear jeans, so she learned to sew.
At 16, she crafted her first pair — light blue hip-huggers with elephant bell bottoms.
"They were very cool," recalled Davis, 66, a Riverhead resident. "You had to walk up stairs very slowly or you would trip."
Davis didn’t know it then, but her affinity for sewing and denim rebellion laid the foundation for her life as a fiber artist and sculptor. Those passions converge in her latest work — a 12-foot geodesic sphere made from more than 1,000 pairs of upcycled blue jeans. It's now on display at the DeLea Sod Farm on Sound Avenue in Riverhead.
Harvesting Memories
The sphere is on display on Sound Avenue across from Park Road in Riverhead through mid-September. To build the sphere, it took Sherry Davis:
- More than 1,000 pairs of jeans
- Nearly eight months of labor
- 75 wood triangles around a 12-foot frame
The eye-catching roadside sculpture is a focal point for those trekking to the North Fork as apple picking season begins. Davis hopes it will serve as a reminder to passersby of the grit and labor it takes to farm.
Inspired by memories of her aunt and uncle’s farm, Davis said the piece, "Harvesting Memories in Blue," honors the resourcefulness and work ethic of the farmers.
"Historically, denim was the clothing of workers, of miners, of farmers, ranchers," Davis said. "It’s about all this labor providing sustenance for us, keeping us alive."
Denim netting covers the structure, which Davis made from 75 wooden triangles nestled in a steel frame. Even the colors of the frame, a bright green and yellow, are a nod to John Deere tractors.
Honoring local roots
One recent afternoon, a tractor tilling in the distance kicked up a cloud of light brown dust that eventually settled on the denim nets. Davis amassed the 1,000-plus pairs of jeans from thrift stores and donations. She tore long strips up the legs — leaving the edges frayed — and knotted them around triangles in the sphere.
The process took about eight months and relied on a handful of volunteers to help tear the fabric.
The sphere was installed in late August on the south side of Sound Avenue across from Park Road, an engineering feat that required the help of her husband, Mark Alhadeff, and their son Daniel. It will be displayed until Sept. 15, Davis said.
"We essentially put it on roller skates," Alhadeff, 61, said, describing the nearly mile-long journey to transport the steel structure from their home off Park Road. Then, each triangle was installed and a solar light placed inside the structure to illuminate it at night.
The 40-acre farm is "the perfect location" for the installation, said Frank Beyrodt, a former Riverhead town councilman and executive vice president of DeLea Sod Farm.
"It’s a very interesting piece of art," he said.
Rob Carpenter, executive director at Long Island Farm Bureau, estimates there are about 3,000 acres of sod farms on Long Island. Davis' sculpture fits well with agriculture.
"It brings back our roots and our history of farming," Carpenter said.
Fighting textile waste
Working with upcycled materials is a theme in Davis’s art.
While starting out as a young artist, Davis remembers calling up factories to see what they were getting rid of that she could use. Soon, she was weaving with raw rubber and coaxial cables and discarded fabric.
The amount of waste was "mind boggling" to see, she recalled.
"Textile waste is something that deeply bothers me," she said, both because of modern fast fashion and remembering how thrifty and frugal her grandmother was. "Nothing was wasted. Old clothing was cut into strips and made into rugs," Davis said.
Americans threw away 11.3 million tons of textiles — primarily discarded clothing — in 2018, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Davis built the sphere using a $2,500 grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. The Huntington Arts Council distributed the grant, among $374,000 in funding it provides to artists and other organizations each year, according to Patty Eljaiek, the council's grants coordinator.
The council selected Davis’ work for involving members of her community and reflecting themes of farming and sustainability.
"They loved the fact that she was connecting her personal history of where she grew up in the Midwest with local history here in Suffolk," she said.
The installation in a farm field coincides with Davis’ solo exhibition at East End Arts’ 11 West Gallery in Riverhead. It's slated to run from Sept. 21 to Oct. 13.
Davis said the sphere is too large to fit inside a gallery. She still plans to showcase how it was created and explore other art forms using denim.
After all, Davis has spent a dizzying amount of time with jeans for someone once barred from owning a pair.
"A lot of people have worn these pants. What’s their story? What did they put in their back pocket? What did they do for a living?" Davis wondered. "To me, that’s really curious."
'A spark for them to escalate the fighting' A standoff between officials has stalled progress, eroded community patience and escalated the price tag for taxpayers. Newsday investigative editor Paul LaRocco and NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie report.
'A spark for them to escalate the fighting' A standoff between officials has stalled progress, eroded community patience and escalated the price tag for taxpayers. Newsday investigative editor Paul LaRocco and NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie report.
