"Fiber 2010" comes to Brandstater Gallery

Yarn, thread, textiles, paper, wool, pine needles, copper wire - the list goes on, a cornucopia of materials artists use to quilt, stitch, weave and otherwise create intricate, tactile works called fiber art.

On Feb. 8, La Sierra University's Brandstater Gallery will host an opening reception from 6 - 8 p.m. for its multiple-artist show called “Fiber 2010.” Julie Kornblum, a nationally exhibited, award-winning fiber artist and educator  is curating the show of 22 artists. The show will continue through March 8. Gallery hours are Mon.-Thurs., 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Sun. 2 - 5 p.m. Admission is free. Call 951-785-2959 for additional information.

“I'm pleased to be curating this exhibition of contemporary artists who use traditional and non-traditional materials and processes to bring fresh treatments to timeless ideas; express modern concerns; create innovative shapes and forms; and test accepted definitions of fiber art,” Kornblum says on her Web site.

Works exhibited in  “Fiber 2010” incorporate traditional materials and techniques, such as wool tapestry and taquete weaving, giving fresh treatments to timeless ideas such as those portrayed in Michael Rhode's “Erosion,” Regina Vorgang's “Earth, Air, Fire & Water,” and Nicki Bair's “Series of Beetles,” Kornblum says.

She described the show's art pieces as comprised of recognizable materials taking innovative forms - not following function, as in Nadine Spier's and Peggy Wiedemann's pine needle coiled baskets. “Susan McGehee's copper wire weaving, Gerri Johnson-McMillin's fish bone basketry, and Meredith Strauss-Jackson's binder clip lace test accepted definitions of fiber art,” Kornblum said.

It could be said that fiber is in Kornblum's blood. She grew up an environment where sewing and needlework where common activities. Her mother often sewed while a young Kornblum played with fabric scraps on the couch. Her grandmother taught her to knit and crochet. When she grew up, Kornblum turned her lifelong interest in fabrics and fiber materials into a career. She attended the fashion design program at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, worked as a pattern maker in the Los Angeles garment industry, and taught sewing, draping and pattern making at Otis College of Art and Design.

Kornblum earned a Bachelor of Art in art with an emphasis in fiber and textiles from California State University, Northridge. She has exhibited throughout Southern California and around the United States and has won numerous awards for her fiber art works.

PR Contact: Larry Becker
Executive Director of University Relations
La Sierra University
Riverside, California
951.785.2460 (voice)