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.