THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU

DERICK MELANDER

For 25 years, second-hand clothing has been the material and conceptual center of my practice across a wide range of formats and media. I have folded and stacked over 10 tons of clothing into gradient-based geometric forms, created X-ray-like rubbings on drafting film, produced art videos with actors and original scores, enlisted volunteers to install work in public parks, and collaborated with museum audiences to create works on site.

As I've developed this body of work, clothing itself has become increasingly disposable, creating an ecological crisis of its own. Through my work, I seek to raise awareness of textile waste and invite a more mindful engagement with the often-unconscious daily ritual of getting dressed.

I spend much of my studio time sewing, sorting, and folding vast quantities of second-hand clothing. This empathetic, tender, and quietly radical process honors forms of labor that are typically undervalued or rendered invisible. While working, I often encounter hand-sewn repairs, hints of perfume, and names written inside collars. These traces evoke an uncanny sense of intimacy, making the garments feel alive. 

The finished works merge the individual garments into single units, but upon close inspection, familiar patterns and details emerge, connecting the work to the viewer’s personal history.

Second-hand clothing doesn’t represent people, it remembers them.

Derick Melander 

NYC, August 2026 

Recent Exhibitions:

08/2026 “In Bloom”, Deleware Valley Arts Alliance, 37 Main St, Narrowsburg, NY 12764

01/2026 “Infinitive ex/quilt”, Gallery MC, 549 West 52nd Street, New York, NY

072025 “Warehouse Market”, NYC Edition, (group show) Sheerly Touch-Ya Warehouse, 74-12 88th Street, Glendale NY

05/2025 “Gathering Threads”, collaborative exhibition with Kelly Reemsten, Galleri Oxholm, Køge, Denmark

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), 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 Art Center, 65 Main St, Livingston Manor, NY 

10/2021 Solo show, “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, 3 Pacific Place,
Wing Fung Street, Starstreet Precinct, Hong Kong

11/2018 “Change Fashion”, Commission, Chapman Perelman Foundation, Change Fashion, Urban Zen,
705 Greenwich Street, New York, NY

09/2018 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  “Derick Melander” Tyler School of Art, Temple University 2001 North 13th Street Philadelphia, PA

12/2015  “The Lost Mitten” 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