WSG gallery presents

Upcycling!

All colors on a mission,

an exhibit of a new body of work

by artist Sara Adlerstein.

June 5 - July 13, 2024

How many pairs of Genes Jeans do you have?

An opening reception for the artist will be held at the gallery on

Friday evening June 7, from 5-7 pm.

All are invited to the opening reception, which is free

and open to the public.

Visiting artists Maria Ruggiero and Darcel Deneau

will also be showing along with all WSG artists.

Artist Statement

As an environmental scientist, artist and educator, I believe art has a role to play in environmental stewardship. As such, this time my art speaks of consumerism through the process of upcycling.

For this collection, I painted on pairs of Levi Strauss jeans 36” x 30” that my husband wore down over 20 years; other pieces are assemblages of throwaway household material I collected overtime.

I embarked on this upcycling journey using plenty of colors to alchemize disposable material into aesthetic objects of desire and inspire viewers to consider making changes in their personal habits to walk softly on Mother Earth. Through the process, I learned that while I thought Levi jeans were a quintessential American staple, all but one of the upcycled jeans were made abroad, including in Lesotho. It was too late to match cutoff pieces and labels when I tried to identify which was the one pair “Made in the USA” This experience triggered a series of thoughts on the play of the words jeans and genes and commentaries on globalization and humans, which I used as titles for these pieces.