Contemporary Perspectives in Fiber Arts at the William D. Cannon Art Gallery

William D. Cannon Art Gallery in Carlsbad, CA, presents California Fibers’ newest exhibit, Contemporary Perspectives in Fiber Arts, opening January 7 and continuing through March 18, 2023. Contemporary Perspectives in Fiber Arts features the work of twenty-five members of California Fibers – Sandy Abrams, Olivia Batchelder, Charlotte Bird, Ashley V. Blalock, Carrie Burckle, Marilyn McKenzie Chaffee, Ben Cuevas, Doshi, Gail Fraser, Polly Jacobs Giacchina, Susan Henry, Lydia Tjioe Hall,  Brecia Kralovic-Logan, Anna Faye Korngute, Chari Myers, Serge Nepomnine, Kathy Nida, Carol Nilsen, Michael F. Rohde, Rebecca Smith, Cameron Taylor-Brown, Elise Vazelakis, Debby Weiss, Peggy Wiedemann and Aneesa Shami Zizzo.

Works selected for the exhibit express a wide variety of themes interpreted in diverse textile materials and processes – a hallmark of contemporary fiber art.

Carol Nilsen, Montecito

Hand-dyed and commercial silks, commercial metallics, vintage kimono and sari fabrics, metallic leaf. Translucent silks overlaid in layers over sari and kimono medallions, metallics, and metallic leaf on felt; machine stitched free-form applique

Carol Nilsen says of her work Montecito, “Flood followed fire, with boulders and trees riding thundering rivers of raging mud to form an unholy convergence that destroyed more than 20 lives and hundreds of homes, one of them ours. Climate change rewriting the surface of our reality.”                                                                                                                           

Ben Cuevas states that his piece, Non-binary Code, plays “with the binary nature of the knit/purl stitchwork inherent to knitting; I translated the word ‘nonbinary’ into binary code and knit this label of my gender identity into a textile wall hanging. The choice of medium—acrylic (yarn) on canvas—brings the work in dialogue with the history of white paintings in minimalist abstraction. I see this work as a queering of many supposedly binary hierarchies, complicating and challenging distinctions of art & craft, digital & handmade, male & female.”                       

Ben Cuevas, Non-binary Code

Rebecca Smith finds her inspiration for After Lenore in “the groundbreaking work of Lenore Tawney whose gauzy, open-weave techniques helped transform fiber art during the Fiber Revolution of the 1950s-1970s. I have explored how Tawney's innovative open weave can contribute to the transparent tapestry format that is practiced by Scandinavian weavers.”

Rebecca Smith, After Lenore

The Good War by Aneesa Shami Zizzo is a part of her Reclamation series, which "blends abstract memory landscapes with Islamic folklore. Using reclaimed fabric, collage methods and applique techniques, creating this piece relies on a making-while-meditating mindset to evoke a sense of the collective unconscious through material exploration."

Aneesa Shami Zizzo, The Good War

Charlotte Bird explains that her work Legacy “is a love letter to my mother-in-law. The pages are made from her damask table napkins. The cookie recipes printed on the pages are from her hand-written recipe cards. The name of the person she got the recipe from is in the upper right corner. The covers were molded out of paper maché using the waffle baker she used throughout her married life.”

Charlotte Bird, Legacy

Several artists are inspired by the rhythms of the natural world. One example is Autumn Maple Leaves by Serge Nepomnine, which expresses the beauty of fall colors “in the format of the Japanese paper scroll and is an impression of maple leaves on a sunny afternoon in mid-autumn.”

Serge Nepomnine, Autumn Maple Leaves

Spring Tides, a felted piece by Chari Myers, “reflects the quality of the light of the New Moon and Full Moon on the Spring Tides.”

Chari Myers, Spring Tides

Sandy Abrams states about her work Sanctuary, that she started “with a wonderful found piece of wood I constructed by twining rattan and covering that with rice paper, a refuge for the clay crows. From my observance, crows bond in large families and settle each night as a group. I am truly fascinated by their antics and camaraderie.”

Sandy Abrams, Sanctuary

The William D. Cannon Art Gallery is located in Plaza Paseo Real at 1775 Dove Lane in Carlsbad, CA. Hours are Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from noon – 5 pm, and Wednesday from noon – 7 pm. Admission is free.  Please check their website for details about the exhibit, including the opening reception planned for January 7.

California Fibers: Inside Out at Visions...Did You Miss the Exhibit?

Well here it is…with some of the artists and all the work.

On Saturday, June 25, some of the artists were at the exhibit to talk to viewers and show their techniques. Here they are with Charlotte Bird’s piece Southland Odyssey, a large folding book of California landscapes.

Artists (l-r) Kathy Nida, Polly Jacobs Giacchina, Charlotte Bird, Rebecca Smith, Peggy Wiedemann, and Olivia Batchelder.

Here’s Charlotte Bird with one side of the piece…

And the other side here…

Bird also had some of her Microbes pieces in the exhibit.

Polly Jacobs Giacchina was kept busy explaining her techniques to viewers. This is her piece Burst from Inside.

And Microscopic View.

Peggy Wiedemann explained to visitors how she works with pine needles…

Here she is with one of her pieces, Carnival.

Here is her piece Batteries Not Included.

This is Wiedemann’s Shake It Up…

Olivia Batchelder with her pieces Multiple Horizons with Fragility (l) and Multiple Horizons with Condor (r).

Rebecca Smith with her tapestry Flight.

And her piece Memory Tree.

Kathy Nida cut out tiny pieces for her next quilt…

Here she is with her piece All Stacked Up.

And Hold On.

The exhibit had a wide range of techniques shown, from quilting, to weaving, to knotting, to coiling, to wrapping, to dyeing, to printmaking.

Starting with weaving, here is Michael Rohde’s Casa de Tia Guero.

This is Rohde’s piece Etla.

Cameron Taylor-Brown also uses weaving techniques in her work. This is Manhattan Bridge.

And here is Shoreline.

Debby Weiss works with fabric and stitching. This is her piece Fractured.

Also working in fabric is Linda Anderson, who paints her images, constructs the quilt, and then intensely quilts it. This is Unbroken.

And here is Perceptions of Life.

In the category of ecoprinting is Doshi’s work. This is California Wild.

Here is Late Summer Secret.

Working with fabric and found objects is Brecia Kralovic-Logan. This is her piece She Invited the Moon.

Lydia Tjioe Hall also works with objects; in this case, the absence of those objects helps create the image. This is Mirage (l) and Liminal Dwelling (r).

Carrie Burckle’s piece Twizzle, created from printed fabrics, hung in the center of the exhibit.

Here are a couple of full views of the exhibit.

And a view of the hands-on samples artists provided to help understand how they made their work.

Plus a last view of the artists who were available on the Artist Talk day.

Hope you enjoyed the show. Keep your eyes peeled for the next show, coming up in late 2022 at the Cannon Gallery in Carlsbad, California.

California Fibers: Inside Out at Visions Art Museum

California Fibers: Inside Out features the work of fourteen members of California Fibers: Linda Anderson, Olivia Batchelder, Charlotte Bird, Carrie Burckle, Doshi, Polly Jacobs Giacchina, Lydia Tjioe Hall, Brecia Kralovic-Logan, Kathy Nida, Michael F. Rohde, Rebecca Smith, Cameron Taylor-Brown, Debby Weiss, and Peggy Weidemann. The show opens April 16 at Visions Art Museum in San Diego, California, and will be up until July 3.

Juror Carolyn Kallenborn selected work that explores the theme of Inside Out in three different ways: The first is “a tangled kind of crazy world, where we are confused and mixed up.” The second is “a contemplative space...where we go to nature or inside of ourselves to find a place of balance and respite.” The third is an “interior space - a visual representation of the physicality of inside and outside, or a close look at things deep inside and unseen.”

Hold On by Kathy Nida is one example of a tangled world. Nida states, “The world is still at risk. The environment is still a disaster. I still love this world and want it to be better. Hold on, y’all.”

Another tangle is the work Carnival by Peggy Weidemann, who explains, “By combining found parts with my weaving in unusual ways, the importance of inside or outside is overshadowed by the play among negative and positive spaces.”

California Wild by Doshi exemplifies a contemplative space. Doshi explains, “The eco-print takes us beyond the obvious – the images look unfamiliar because the point of view is different. We are looking inside the plant at the complexity of nature.”

Manhattan Bridge by Cameron Taylor-Brown also encourages contemplation, “invit(ing) the viewer to ask what might be there…and then again, what might not.”

Kallenborn’s vision of interior space is illustrated by the work Mirage by Lydia Tjioe Hall, who writes, “Mirage is a reflection on our time spent at home sheltering in place. On the one hand it felt safe to be at home and at times it seemed like an illusion of safety.”

Michael Rohde’s Casa del Tio Güero takes a different approach to interior space. He honors the grid as a primary design element, and on a recent trip to Oaxaca “was drawn to the colors and geometries of building facades. Back in the studio, I cropped photos and reduced them to a series of squares, maintaining a sense of the original.”

A “Meet the Artist” conversation about process and inspiration is being planned. Please visit the museum website in April to find out more.

Visions Art Museum is located at 2825 Dewey Road in the Arts District of Liberty Station in San Diego, CA. Hours are Wednesday and Thursday 10 am -2 pm and Friday and Saturday from 10 am -4 pm. Admission is free. For additional information, please visit their website.

New Members: Elise Vazelakis

Los Angeles-based textile artist Elise Vazelakis creates experimental textiles, sculptures, and installations that are an exploration of the intersection between color, texture, and pattern. The themes that emerge in her work include nostalgia, memory, and the passage of time—rendering complex, multilayered woven pieces. Her process-based practice began when she learned how to sew from her grandmothers. This textile education is apparent in much of her practice since she employs many mainstream methods learned early on. Although her artwork utilizes the traditional techniques of crocheting, weaving, knitting, and coiling she diverges from the normal application of these methods. In her practice, she is drawn to the limitless possibilities that fiber can push when there is an integration of unorthodox materials.

Altered

The incorporation of photographs, metal wire, found objects, and single-use plastic makes Vazelakis’ content unpredictable from series to series. But the persistent theme in her practice is the contrast between the components; some known for their fortitude and others their fragility. This contradiction is the subject matter that continuously repeats itself in all of her art. This is most evident with her current body of work that integrates fiber elements with construction scrap. This new series is an anthology of materials that have been thrown out during the building of her new home. Revealing the unseen portions of the structure wasn't the only reason Vazelakis was attracted to the materials. Many of the items have a grid pattern familiar to her textile practice. The horizontal and vertical design of the fibers she works with were mirrored in the construction. The framing, deck support, and stucco lathing all have an orthogonal system similar to woven threads. The integration of these components into her art is a visual documentation of the construction and a metaphor for healing. Working with the elements that will soon be her new home is analogous to rebuilding her history that was lost in the wildfire; one small piece at a time. 

Altered (detail)

Vazelakis’ artwork has been exhibited locally and internationally with solo exhibitions in Dubai, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and group shows in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, Phoenix, Santa Fe, and Toronto. Her work is also in private and public collections including Faisaliah Resort in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Elise holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, from San Diego State University and is currently a Master in Fine Arts candidate at California State University Long Beach (Expected 2023). She is a member of TextileArts LA, California Fibers, Surface Design Association, and the current president of the Fiber Club at CSULB. You can view her work on her website or Instagram @elisevazelakis.

Woven Portrait