Backstitch: Looking Back, Designing Forward
On exhibit October 3 – November 9
Gallery at 3S Artspace
Opening Reception / Meet The Designers Friday, October 3 // 5 – 8pm
Free and open to the public
—-
As Project Upcycle returns for a special All-Stars edition this fall—and 3S Artspace celebrates its 10th anniversary—curated in collaboration with Jennifer Moore (Recovergirl), we’re proud to present a companion exhibition titled Backstitch:
A backstitch strengthens by doubling back before moving forward. This exhibit reflects a shift in perspective, a breakthrough, or a reimagining of what’s possible through work created by past Project Upcycle designers and judges.
Together, the work will explore the question: What does it mean to design a way forward?
Each work offers a glimpse into how designers are navigating the complexity of fashion today: working with constraints, challenging conventions, and building on what’s come before to imagine what might come next.
Project Upcycle, our annual sustainable fashion design challenge culminating in a Runway Event, has always been about resourcefulness, community, and pushing the limits of what secondhand and surplus materials can become. The Backstitch exhibition continues that conversation in a different register—quieter, slower, more reflective.
The exhibit sparks conversation and inspires curiosity, creating space for visitors to engage and to consider the role of design, not only as a practice of making, but as a way of thinking: about impact, about innovation, about how the things we create and consume shape the world we live in. It’s a space for asking what else is possible, and what innovative design thinking might help bring into focus.
—-
Featured designers:
Oye Ajewole • Jackiellen Bonney • Nathalia Castrillon • Holly Cooper • Ashley Cushon • Kelly Dempsy • Jared DeSimio • Marion Dillon • Olivia Dwyer • Kirsten Elfe • Emma Fritschel • Chrystina Gastelum • Henry Hawk • Jessamy Kilcollins •
Justin Landry • Hai-Wen Lin • Isabel Jane Marvel • Elias Matso •
Cali McDonald •
Raynor Pavloff + IZ • Mo Pepin •
Christian Restrepo • Drew Rosen •
Alexa Stark • Allysun West
—-
3S Artspace is supported in part by grants from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts; New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and NHCF’s Geoffrey E. Clark and Martha Fuller Clark Fund; Horizon Foundation; and Little Bay Fund.
Generously supported by: AC Hotel Marriott, The Brook, The Kane Company/Tidemark, Katzman Contemporary Projects, MacEdge, Raka, Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel.