California Fibers: Tactile Thinking

A new California Fibers’ exhibit has opened at the Hyde Gallery at Grossmont College, in San Diego, California. The show continues through November 12. The reception will be October 27, from 4-6 PM.

California Fibers: Tactile Thinking explores how fourteen artists express tactile thinking through the medium of textiles. For example, Debra Weiss’ All You Have Is Your Soul is a collection of nine small woven artworks that invite tactile thinking through woven, stitched fabric, texture, and layered surfaces.

All That You Have Is Your Soul, Debra Weiss

The intimate hand-worked pieces engage touch as a way of remembering and understanding—exploring memory, resilience, and identity through the tension between fragility and strength.

Elise Vazelakis forms Never the Same River 13 and 14 from eggshells and sodium alginate that are then combined with bioplastic yarn that she makes and twines by hand.

Never the Same River 14, Elise Vazelakis

Tactile thinking happens through the making, as she responds to the materials and allows each form to evolve.

 Carrie Burckle states that every layer of her piece In and Out of the Loop records the hand at work — masking, dyeing, printing, waxing, stitching — thought made physical through touch.

In and Out of the Loop, Carrie Burckle

Rebecca Smith’s Traverse exemplifies tactile thinking because, as she explains it, “Weaving involves thinking through my hands, experimenting with textile structure and the interaction of threads to discover aspects of transparency and woven density that I can’t anticipate any other way. The physical process of weaving is not merely the aftereffect of creating a design. It is part of creative thinking itself.”

Traverse, Rebecca Smith

California Fibers: Tactile Thinking features the work of fourteen members of California Fibers, including Sandy Abrams, Charlotte Bird, Carrie Burckle, Polly Jacobs Giacchina, Lydia Tjioe Hall, Mônica Lóss, Chari Myers, Kathy Nida, Marty Ornish, Michael F. Rohde, Rebecca Smith, Elise Vazelakis, Debra Weiss, and Peggy Wiedemann.

About the HYDE ART GALLERY at Grossmont College: Since its founding in 1961, Grossmont College has supported arts and culture education, events, and activities, including exhibitions in the Hyde Gallery. From its offerings in the Music, Theatre Arts, and Visual Arts and Humanities departments to World Arts & Culture Committee-sponsored events, Grossmont College believes in the importance of art and culture in education. The Hyde Art Gallery is located in Building 22 in the Performing and Visual Arts Center on Grossmont College Drive in El Cajon, CA. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from 10AM - 4PM. Admission is free.

California Fibers at The Huntington Beach Art Center

The Languages of Fiber opened August 15 at The Huntington Beach Art Center in Huntington Beach, California, and is open through October 24. Here are some photos from the exhibit and the opening.

Artists Mônica Lóss, Polly Jacobs Giacchina, and Peggy Wiedemann; Director Dan Faltz; Juror Suzanne Isken; and artists Rebecca Smith, Sandy Abrams, Marty Ornish, and Carrie Burckle.

Artists Mônica Lóss and Doshi in front of Sandy Abrams’ Black and Red Donut.

Artist Michael F. Rohde (far right) looking at his piece All News.

Artist Marty Ornish with her collection of pieces, they gave up control at exactly the right moment.

Artist Mônica Lóss with her piece Expanded Interior III.

Juror Suzanne Isken talking to artist Peggy Wiedemann.

Artists Marty Ornish and Polly Jacobs Giacchina.

Artist Rebecca Smith with her piece Whispers from the Past Trilogy.

Artist Carrie Burckle with her piece What the Body Keeps 1.

Doshi’s piece The Wind Stirs the Leaves.

Peggy Wiedemann’s piece Disquise.

Charlotte Bird’s piece Indecision.

View of the gallery, including some of Marty Ornish’s they gave up control at exactly the right moment!, Marilyn McKenzie Chaffee’s Dresden Plate Redux, and Brecia Kralovic-Logan’s Nurture.

Carol Nilsen’s piece Optimists Organizing.

AniFaye Korngute’s piece Blue Figure.

Back side

Polly Jacobs Giacchina’s piece Emerging.

Gallery view including work by Rebecca Smith, Ashley Blalock, Cameron Taylor-Brown, and Lydia Tjioe Hall.

Cameron Taylor-Brown’s piece Threads of Time/Lyon Weavers’ Staircase #1.

One of Lydia Tjioe Hall’s wire studies, 2021.

Ashley Blalock’s Keeping Up Appearances.

Left, Elise Vazelakis’ DROPPED OUT, with Marty Ornish’s pieces to the right.

Visitors viewing Polly Jacobs Giacchina’s piece Internal Growth.

Michael F. Rohde’s Signal Flags.

Chari Myers’ piece Spring Tides.

Brecia Kralovic-Logan’s piece Ignite.

Gallery view with Doshi’s work and Sandy Abrams’ Black and Red Donut and Distorted Rationality in the foreground.

Aneesa Shahmi’s two pieces Khalto Sophia loves knafeh (left) and If jido was a poet… (right).

Mônica Lóss’ piece Expanded Interior VI.

Peggy Wiedemann’s piece Think Outside the Box.

Elise Vazelakis’ piece CONTINUOUS DREAMING II.

The show is up for another three weeks; stop by and enjoy the work before then!

California Fibers: The Languages of Fiber Opening August 15

Our newest exhibit,  California Fibers: The Languages of Fiber, will open August 15 at The Huntington Beach Art Center in Huntington Beach, California. The exhibit will continue through October 24. There is an opening reception on Saturday, August 22, from 6:30-9 PM, and an “Art for Lunch” artist talk on Thursday, September 24, from 11:30 AM-1:30 PM.

Carrie Burckle, What the Body Keeps 1; Screen print on cotton muslin with textile inks, markers, stitched, silk organza

Suzanne Isken, the juror, writes that “California Fibers: The Languages of Fiber invites viewers to consider fiber as a form of communication—one that speaks through structure, material, and process. Throughout history, textiles have carried stories, encoded cultural knowledge, marked identity, and recorded human experience. If the syntax of fiber’s language is structure, then texture, rhythm, pattern, and form are its diction. The exhibition shows how contemporary artists continue that conversation, expanding textile traditions into new forms of abstract visual expression.”

Charlotte Bird, Hand Towel - Urban Discards; Mixed media: collected flattened drink cans and junk, barbeque vegetable holder, melted plastic bags, cotton fabric, threads/ artist-constructed holder, machine sewn, machine quilted, hand attached junk

California Fibers: The Languages of Fiber features the work of twenty members of California Fibers, including Sandy Abrams, Charlotte Bird, Ashley V. Blalock, Carrie Burckle, Doshi, Polly Jacobs Giacchina, Lydia Tjioe Hall, AniFaye Korngute, Brecia Kralovic-Logan, Mônica Lóss, Chari Myers, Carol Nilsen, Marty Ornish, Michael F. Rohde, Rebecca Smith, Cameron Taylor-Brown, Elise Vazelakis, Debra Weiss, Peggy Wiedemann, and Aneesa Shami Zizzo.  

Elise Vaselakis, DROPPED OUT; Loom woven fiber, brass and copper wire

California Fibers: The Languages of Fiber is part of Handwork 2026, Craft in America’s nationwide semiquincentennial collaboration showcasing the importance of the handmade and celebrating the diversity of craft that defines America.

Doshi, The Wind Stirs the Leaves; wool, botanical prints of red plum leaves, acid dye, organza, appliqué                                                                         

About SUZANNE ISKEN

Suzanne Isken served as Executive Director of the Craft Contemporary from 2011 through 2023. Under her direction, the museum presented landmark exhibitions that highlighted the careers of under-recognized craft-based artists. Previously, she served as the Director of Education at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Awards include recognition as the 2004 Pacific Region Art Educator of the Year by the National Art Education Association. Isken has authored articles in Academic Medicine and School Arts and contributed the essay “Art and Cancer in the Public Space” to Cancer and Creativity (2019), edited by Esther Drifuss-Kattan. Most recently, Isken contributed to the book Handwork, which will be released in July 2026 by Phaedon Books. She is a board member of the Center for Craft in North Carolina and Textile Arts Los Angeles.

About HUNTINGTON BEACH ART CENTER

The Huntington Beach Art Center (HBAC) is a community arts and cultural center serving Huntington Beach and the Southern California region. The Art Center opened its doors to the public in 1995 and presents the works of artists producing in all media. Through exhibitions, performances, film/video screenings, lectures, and educational programming, HBAC serves to advance public awareness and understanding of cultural, historic, and contemporary perspectives. The Art Center is located at 538 Main Street in Huntington Beach, CA. Center hours are Tuesday from noon – 8pm, Wednesday through Thursday from noon-6pm and Friday and Saturday from noon-5pm. Admission is free.

About CALIFORNIA FIBERS

California Fibers, founded in 1970, supports artistic growth and professional advancement for contemporary Southern California fiber artists. The imagination and superb craftsmanship of these artists place them in the highest echelons of their fields. The group has an extensive exhibition history in the USA and abroad. Many of its members are well-represented in museums and private collections and are recipients of prestigious awards from around the world. Their creative expression includes weaving, basketry, sculpture, quilting, embroidery, felting, surface design, knitting, crochet, wearables, and mixed media. 

What We're Working On...

Every once in a while, we check in with members to see what they’re working on. This is one of those moments…

Elise Marks Vazelakis says, “Lately I’ve been making my own bioplastic yarn and experimenting with twining, crochet, and weaving to see how the material behaves.  Working with a biodegradable material feels very different than the post consumer plastics I usually use, and I’m excited to experiment with materials that could become part of a more sustainable future. Testing it through traditional textile techniques that I work with in my practice has opened up new possibilities and continues my interest in material experimentation.“

Brecia Kralovic-Logan has been working on a series of four large weavings based on the elements: Air, Fire, Earth, and Water. She also relates them to the creative process and has titled them: Imagine, Ignite, Nurture, and Flow.  She completed three of the weavings and is currently working on the weaving Imagine (stay tuned for a future update on Imagine).

For each weaving, she creates sketches or paintings for inspiration and then gathers materials. She uses both commercial yarns and yarn she hand dyes, as well as her own hand-dyed silk fabrics (see to the right). The weaving is all done on handheld looms made from soda straws and string. This is the same weaving method that she used for her international weaving project, Women's Woven Voices. Learn more here: www.womenswovenvoices.com

Above you can see the bottom piece during creation, using the soda straws in the weaving process.

Below you can see the first three pieces completed.

Kathy Nida has been experimenting with dye painting as a different way to create work. Last summer, she made over 10 dye paintings on an artist residency in Temecula.

In the last few months, she started finishing them into quilts, adding hand applique, beading, and embroidery to embellish the pieces.

She appreciates the slower, more contemplative nature of making these quilts, plus the challenge of deciding how to embellish them.

Stay tuned for an upcoming post about a recent meeting where members shared their work in progress.