Drive along Sound Avenue in Riverhead and something unique may catch your eye. An outdoor sculpture in the form of a 12-foot-high sphere crafted from hundreds of pairs of upcycled denim jeans sits between Sound Avenue Automotive and Schmitt’s farm stand. Called “Harvesting Memories in Blue,” it was created by Riverhead fiber artist Sherry Davis, who said the symbolic piece “ties the work of farmers to the jeans they wear.”
The giant ball comprises approximately 75 cloth triangles — each made from strips of denim in various shades of faded blue, that have been wrapped, knotted and tied together. “I’d be at home or at the beach, tearing the jeans into long strips. I’d have friends come over and help. I didn’t cut them with a scissor because I wanted the texture of the denim being worn out,” Ms. Davis explained.
Most of the hundreds of pairs of jeans used in the sculpture were donated by the thrift store at Baiting Hollow Congregational Church, just down the road.
“And every time we opened our front door, there were bags of jeans from neighbors who donated,” said the artist’s husband, Mark Alhadeff.
Ms. Davis, who grew up on her grandparents’ farm in Ohio and remembers “being too short that I got lost in the cornfield,” pointed out that farmers today still wear overalls. “Denim is such a hard-working material.” In creating the piece, she said, she felt like she was surrounded by all the people who wore the jeans. “What did they do in these jeans? I was thinking as I was in my studio. The connection with some of them that were worn by farmers, is that the nexus of jeans and labor is agriculture.”
“The fasteners on the sphere are stainless steel so they’re all-weather,” said Mr. Alhadeff. “It’s hurricane-proof. We tested the steel and denim over three months and it’s fine in wet weather. ”
“If there’s degradation of the fiber, that’s part of life, and I’m also okay with people touching it,” Ms. Davis added. “I want people to get personal with it.”
The couple estimated the sphere weighs 1,000 pounds; the wood and armature are about half of that. “So, my son who’s an engineer, and me, a pseudo-engineer, worked on the framing,” Mr. Alhadeff said. They also anchored solar lights inside to illuminate the sculpture at night.
A $2,500 grant for the project came from the New York State Council on the Arts; the remainder of the cost was covered by in-kind donations from people who contributed their time and expertise. The idea for a sphere came to Ms. Davis while she was crafting balls at home from salvaged fabric and sheets. “I was an earth science teacher at one point and I’m a space head. I love planets and the idea of circular objects,” she said. Some of the first balls she shaped are part of the contemporary artwork on display at Vine + Sand bed and breakfast in Southold.
Since January, when she decided to go big, she’s spent hundreds of hours on her newest project.
The history of denim, from original Levi Strauss jeans, followed by the riveted pockets, to the Gold Rush miners, cowboys and farmers who wore them provided inspiration for the sphere. “Denim crosses all walks of society,” Ms. Davis said. “It also symbolized freedom in the ‘60s and it’s so fashionable that most people have several pairs of jeans.”
After Ms. Davis received the grant, she held multiple meetings with local farmers to decide the best location for her sphere and answer questions about installation and insurance. “We wanted to make sure it wouldn’t impact any crops that were growing or the farmers’ ability to farm. The other issue was finding a safe location … where people driving by could safely pull over and take pictures of it,” said Rob Carpenter, director of the Long Island Farm Bureau. “It’s pretty big, so it can’t be put up on a wall. Visually if you drive by it at night, it’s a beautiful piece of artwork, with the way the light shines on it.”
An opening reception for “Harvesting Memories in Blue” will take place Saturday, Aug. 31, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the 9/11 memorial across the street from the sphere. The huge piece will be on view for only three weeks because of the planting schedule. Where will it go next?
“It’s unknown right now,” said Ms. Davis. “Several people are interested in it. It could go indoors or outside. It might be for a commercial property.”