Ian Berry and his art in denim

Ian Berry makes his art from denim, creating large artworks and large-scale sculptures. Through his work, he explores themes such as loneliness and issues around contemporary life, especially the many layers and changes of urban living.

There’s no dye, no bleach and no paint. Everything you see is used denim, or seconds from denim mills and fashion brands. Using the various gradients that exist in the material, he pieces together works that are almost photorealistic in nature. “I like to let the denim work for me,” he says of this process. Of particular interest is the way a matt material like denim can be manipulated to shimmer like the surface of water, or shine like a polished floor.

We spoke to Ian about his path into a career as a full-time maker.

“I was always the arty one at school. I loved football, and was good at other academic subjects, but whenever I had the chance, I’d be drawing or painting.

At college, I lost confidence in my art a bit. I began to think there was no career for me in art. And all that despite growing up in West Yorkshire, boasting some of the biggest names in British art: Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, David Hockney.

A lot of people think being an artist isn’t a career. So I went to university to study Advertising, which led me to become an Art Director, blending my passion with an industry where I could make a living. I still created my own art on the side, but when I lost my job in the financial crash of 2008, I turned my art into my job. I moved from Australia to Sweden and started making work, feverishly working for quite a few years.

In Sweden I made a breakthrough. I had enough savings to sustain me for a little while, but I pinned a note to the back of my door saying “You have one chance”, which got me up in the mornings when I was tired. I was offered the chance to have an exhibition there, which sold out, and during that time another artist saw my work and sent it to his gallery in London.

Everything good that’s happened has been down to another artist opening a door for me. When other artists help you, or you help other artists, everyone grows. My whole Secret Garden project came off the back of an artist connecting me with a museum in New York. Now I tour the world with that installation.

What’s your advice to budding artists and makers, looking to make it as a career?

Firstly, it’s stressful, at 17 or 18, to be making decisions on what you’ll do for the rest of your life, but people come at things from different angles – I studied Advertising and ended up as a full-time maker – and this offers you different perspectives, a new look at things, a freshness to your art. There’s something powerful in having transferable skills which you can bring to your work.

The other thing I’d say is that the idea is just the start. You’ve then got to put the work in to turn it into something concrete.

Social media these days has helped make art and careers in art a lot more accessible, and given a lot of creatives a platform to be discovered and to sell their work.

When I look back on my GCSE and A-Level work, I find themes emerging which have returned in my later work. For instance, I sketched a pair of jeans for my GCSEs. I’m a big believer in what you do this week helping you next week.

Discover more of Ian's work at www.ianberry.org