Salt Water Midwife, Cindy Bonaparte, Digital Collage, 2021, 10" x 14"
In Our Hands:
sustainability and accessibility
a group show featuring 5 upcycling designers, artists, and healers
on view October 6 - December 9, 2023
Viewing by appointment Monday - Thursday 8 am - 3 pm
Email to book viewing time: info@sovern.la
A group exhibition featuring five LA-based, BIPOC upcycling designers: Todd Alexander, Rachel (Elle) Litiatco, Vyvy Pham, Daisy Santos, and Adrienne Wade.
With techniques ranging from patchwork to ice dye, embroidery, and more, each artist offers a unique relationship with and insight into their practice, centering art and fashion around pillars of healing, empowerment, and accessibility.
The exhibition highlights the designers’ conscious efforts toward sustainability through the creative process of upcycling and showcases creative and sustainable practices, while at the same time pushing community members to proactively and creatively reimagine their relationships to and intentionality with their own clothing.
Related Public Programs:
Opening Reception
Friday, October 6, 2023 | 7 pm - 10 pm
Artist talk moderated by Olivia Sawai | 7 pm - 8 pm
Celebration featuring DJ The Plush One | 8 pm - 10 pm
Upcycling Ice Dye Workshop
Saturday, November 4, 2023 | 12 pm - 2 pm
Learn how to transform old garments into vibrant, one-of-a-kind pieces of art with exhibiting artist, Todd Alexander. Discover the magic of ice dyeing techniques, unleash your creativity, and breathe new life into your wardrobe, contributing to a more sustainable future.
Night Market
Saturday, December 9, 2023 | 7 pm - 10 pm
The show will culminate in a night market on Saturday, December 9, which will feature local artisans from our community in addition to exhibiting designers’ work, as well as a DJ, food, and drinks.
With techniques ranging from patchwork to ice dye, embroidery, and more, each artist offers a unique relationship with and insight into their practice, centering art and fashion around pillars of healing, empowerment, and accessibility.
The exhibition highlights the designers’ conscious efforts toward sustainability through the creative process of upcycling and showcases creative and sustainable practices, while at the same time pushing community members to proactively and creatively reimagine their relationships to and intentionality with their own clothing.
Related Public Programs:
Opening Reception
Friday, October 6, 2023 | 7 pm - 10 pm
Artist talk moderated by Olivia Sawai | 7 pm - 8 pm
Celebration featuring DJ The Plush One | 8 pm - 10 pm
Upcycling Ice Dye Workshop
Saturday, November 4, 2023 | 12 pm - 2 pm
Learn how to transform old garments into vibrant, one-of-a-kind pieces of art with exhibiting artist, Todd Alexander. Discover the magic of ice dyeing techniques, unleash your creativity, and breathe new life into your wardrobe, contributing to a more sustainable future.
Night Market
Saturday, December 9, 2023 | 7 pm - 10 pm
The show will culminate in a night market on Saturday, December 9, which will feature local artisans from our community in addition to exhibiting designers’ work, as well as a DJ, food, and drinks.
Featured Artists
Image of artist Todd Alexander with one of his ice-dyed pieces.
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Todd Alexander
Originally from New Jersey, mixed media artist Todd Alexander now calls Los Angeles home. His love for dyeing started as a therapeutic outlet, and has evolved into a passion for creating one-of-a-kind works of art. He specializes in using unique dyeing techniques and patterns to transform once forgotten fabrics into pieces that evoke emotion and inspire connection. His work serves as a reminder that art can inspire change, pushing us to reevaluate our consumption of fashion by cherishing the potential of each thread. |
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Rachel (Elle) Litiatco
Elle is a Filipino American Designer and Founder of ELLERALI, a fashion brand with a mission to Recreate The Created by upcycling fabric to reduce textile waste. With a degree in Marine Biology, Elle grew a deep connection with the ocean and the environment and how our daily actions affect it. The Fashion Industry is a leading contributor to pollution in our environment where the average person throws out at least 80 lbs of textile waste a year in the United States. Elle wants to show that fashion can be comfortable, functional, and environmentally responsible. Upcycling never looked so Fly. |
Image of artist Elle Rali smiling at the camera.
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Image of artist Vyvy Pham.
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Vyvy Pham
Vyvy is a sustainable designer specializing in hand embroidery. Growing up in a traditional Vietnamese family as a daughter of a used-to-be tailor, Vyvy has sewing skills inherited from her mom. She realized that hand embroidery technique, a specific long-standing culture of Vietnam, is falling into oblivion, being replaced with modern embroidery machines. Vyvy desires to maintain this beautiful culture of her country with her skillful hands by using needles as brushes and flosses as paints to create sustainable masterpieces of needlework on unwanted/unused textiles. |
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Daisy Santos
“Growing up in a family that struggled with financial difficulties, we couldn’t afford buying new clothes as freely. Fortunately, being raised in a Mexican household where there were many hand-me-downs, I loved going through every piece of garment, trying them on, and imagining that I was having a fashion show. As an adult, I want to give my inner child the freedom to unleash her authentic creative self to create and showcase my upcycling pieces. I would love to empower people to make the most out of what they have and influence anyone in relation to art, upcycling, styling, and experimenting as well as bringing awareness of the beauty of sustainability.” |
Image of artist Daisy Santos.
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Image of artist Adrienne Wade in her studio.
Adrienne Wade
Adrienne Wade dedicates her life to inspiring change in the world through art, natural living, self-transformation, and (w)holism. She is a multi-disciplinary artist and naturalist who has created all her life. Her grandmother, Eleanor, taught her to sew at a young age, making room for creative expression and personalized style. Her work continues to honor virtues connected to inner liberation and alchemy. Adrienne’s art is filled with metaphysical messages, metaphorical abstractions, and playful creative symbolism. Her relationship with upcycling honors transformation and change. It also honors creativity as a flow state that invites us to perceive from a new perspective.
Adrienne Wade dedicates her life to inspiring change in the world through art, natural living, self-transformation, and (w)holism. She is a multi-disciplinary artist and naturalist who has created all her life. Her grandmother, Eleanor, taught her to sew at a young age, making room for creative expression and personalized style. Her work continues to honor virtues connected to inner liberation and alchemy. Adrienne’s art is filled with metaphysical messages, metaphorical abstractions, and playful creative symbolism. Her relationship with upcycling honors transformation and change. It also honors creativity as a flow state that invites us to perceive from a new perspective.
About the organization:
Sovern LA is an intersectional community center, located in LA’s West Adams district, focused on supporting Black and Indigenous women and gender non-binary people. We offer subsidized creative and wellness programming that empowers, heals, and eliminates barriers – resulting in healthier humans with stronger professional and economic opportunities. In addition to our group programming, we feature rotating art exhibitions, host artists in our residence unit, and support emerging wellness practitioners who offer 1:1 services in our healing suite.
Sovern LA is an intersectional community center, located in LA’s West Adams district, focused on supporting Black and Indigenous women and gender non-binary people. We offer subsidized creative and wellness programming that empowers, heals, and eliminates barriers – resulting in healthier humans with stronger professional and economic opportunities. In addition to our group programming, we feature rotating art exhibitions, host artists in our residence unit, and support emerging wellness practitioners who offer 1:1 services in our healing suite.
