thebranchgallery-blog

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Thanks again to all who came out to the Artist Talk with Hope Anita Smith this past Sunday! Here are a few photos from the event - what a great turnout.

You can still see the TORN: Together and Apart exhibition through March 4. Only a couple more weeks for you to visit!

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Join us for an artist talk with local artist & author Hope Anita Smith. Learn more about her work and process on Sunday, February 18 at 2pm. Her work is currently on view in our TORN: Together and Apart exhibition through March 4. -- Branch Gallery is excited to announce its upcoming exhibition, TORN: Together and Apart, featuring work by author and illustrator Hope Anita Smith. TORN will consist of paper collage illustrations from Smith’s recent books, Mother Poems and My Daddy Rules the World: Poems about Dads. The opening reception is on Sunday, January 21 from 2pm - 4pm. There will also be a short reading by Smith on January 21 at 3pm. Using paper as her medium, Smith presents family relationships through layers of ripped paper. Various colors and textures depict skin, clothing, and furniture. Figures take shape through frayed edges; each tear in the paper becomes a shoulder, an ear, or a hand. Parents embrace their children, play games with them, or teach them to ride a bike. Smith’s imagery is emotionally stimulating and powerful reminders of one’s own personal relationships. TORN will be on view through Sunday, March 4, 2018. About Hope Anita Smith Hope Anita Smith is an award-winning author, with many published books including: The Way a Door Closes, Keeping the Night Watch, Mother Poems, and My Daddy Rules the World. Smith’s first foray into illustration with Mother Poems led to her second illustrated book, My Daddy Rules the World. The images, done in torn paper, are powerful and emotionally stimulating. Smith’s company, Inked Well Words, has her teaching writing "wordshops" to writers of every age. She encourages her students to find their 'voice' using paint chips, random words, found objects, and magazine pictures. Hope Anita Smith was born and raised in Akron, Ohio and currently resides in Beverly Hills, California. hopeanitasmith.com

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Thanks to all who came out for the TORN: Together and Apart opening reception yesterday!

It was great seeing all the support Hope Anita Smith has for her work.

Exhibition will be on view through Sunday, March 4, 2018 if you missed the reception.

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Branch Gallery is excited to announce its upcoming exhibition, TORN: Together and Apart, featuring work by author and illustrator Hope Anita Smith. TORN will consist of paper collage illustrations from Smith’s recent books, Mother Poems and My Daddy Rules the World: Poems about Dads. The opening reception is on Sunday, January 21 from 2pm - 4pm. There will also be a short reading by Smith on January 21 at 3pm.

Using paper as her medium, Smith presents family relationships through layers of ripped paper. Various colors and textures depict skin, clothing, and furniture. Figures take shape through frayed edges; each tear in the paper becomes a shoulder, an ear, or a hand. Parents embrace their children, play games with them, or teach them to ride a bike. Smith’s imagery is emotionally stimulating and powerful reminders of one’s own personal relationships. TORN will be on view through Sunday, March 4, 2018.

About Hope Anita Smith

Hope Anita Smith is an award-winning author, with many published books including: The Way a Door Closes, Keeping the Night Watch, Mother Poems, and My Daddy Rules the World. Smith’s first foray into illustration with Mother Poems led to her second illustrated book, My Daddy Rules the World. The images, done in torn paper, are powerful and emotionally stimulating. Smith’s company, Inked Well Words, has her teaching writing "wordshops" to writers of every age. She encourages her students to find their 'voice' using paint chips, random words, found objects, magazine pictures. Hope Anita Smith was born and raised in Akron, Ohio and currently resides in Beverly Hills, California.

hopeanitasmith.com

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Thanks to all who joined us for the Artist Talk with Amabelle Aguiluz on Dec. 9th! 

If you missed this event, we will also be hosting a Potluck with the Artist on Dec. 13th from 6-8pm. Bring a fiber project to work on and a side dish to share 🍲

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Current exhibition Duality features work by Amabelle Aguiluz. Aguiluz is a local fiber artist incorporating clothing and textiles in her fiber sculptures and installations. Duality will consist of several site-specific installations, exploring the concepts of light vs. dark and creation vs. destruction. The installations will be constructed from upcycled knitwear and previous yarn installations by Aguiluz. Aguiluz’s method of unraveling existing garments and re-knitting them into different forms breathes new life into the material. This process provides a coherent rhythm of making that Aguiluz refers to as “a journey of transformation.” The repetitive motions of unraveling and re-knitting allows her to meditate on notions of self exploration, especially rebirth. The work in Duality references this rebirth, urging the audience to examine the material transformations in each installation. About Amabelle Aguiluz Amabelle Aguiluz lives and works in Los Angeles. Her practice incorporates clothing, textile, fiber sculpture, and installation processes that are presented as free form sculptures and are often incorporated into live performance, video, and photographs. She studied at Politecnico di Milano, Italy and graduated in 2011 from the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York BFA in Fashion Design. Aguiluz’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including the La Triennale Internationale des Arts Textiles in Outaouais, Canada. amabelleaguiluz.com

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Join us at Branch Gallery on Saturday, December 9 at 2pm for an Artist Talk with Amabelle Aguiluz. Discuss the work on view in Duality and learn more about Aguiluz’s creative process and the inspiration for her work. Aguiluz will demo her knitting machine techniques following the talk.

There will also be a Potluck with the Artist event on Wednesday, December 13th from 6pm-8pm. Everyone is encouraged to bring a fiber project to work on and a side dish to share.

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Duality features new work by Amabelle Aguiluz. Aguiluz is a local fiber artist incorporating clothing and textiles in her fiber sculptures and installations. Duality will consist of several site-specific installations, exploring the concepts of light vs. dark and creation vs. destruction. The installations will be constructed from upcycled knitwear and previous yarn installations by Aguiluz.

Aguiluz’s method of unraveling existing garments and re-knitting them into different forms breathes new life into the material. This process provides a coherent rhythm of making that Aguiluz refers to as “a journey of transformation.” The repetitive motions of unraveling and re-knitting allows her to meditate on notions of self exploration, especially rebirth. The work in Duality references this rebirth, urging the audience to examine the material transformations in each installation. Each piece in Duality has rich history, linking the material’s previous forms of existence with the present form it holds. Aguiluz hopes this renewal of material lends a perspective of duality in the exhibition.

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Thanks to all who came out for Cameron Taylor-Brown’s Artist Lecture this afternoon! Be sure to check out her upcoming Fiber Trails Workshop on Oct. 28th.

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Thanks to all who joined us for the opening reception of Fiber Trails last Saturday!

Swing by Branch Gallery for an artist lecture with Cameron Taylor-Brown on Saturday, October 21 at 2pm. Taylor-Brown will share images of landscapes, people and their traditional textiles, and discuss how her travels influence her artwork.

Branch Galler’s current exhibition, Fiber Trails, features several series of artwork inspired by Taylor-Brown’s journeys and includes Red Offerings (Bhutan), Majestic Stone (Peruvian Highlands), Colors of Gujarat (India) and LAVAfolds (Galapagos Islands, Ecuador). Taylor-Brown’s creative expression encompasses mixed media fiber collage, weaving and site-specific installation.  

“Fiber Trails celebrates the rich heritage and international language of textiles. Where there are people there is cloth. When I travel, I seek out textiles and their makers and am inspired by the diverse cultures and varied landscapes I encounter.”  - Cameron Taylor-Brown

A Fiber Trails workshop will be offered on October 28 from 10AM- 5PM. Participants will create a knitted, crocheted or woven design inspired by one of Cameron’s images or an image from their own journey. Their journey could be as far away as China or as close as their own backyard! Event details can be found online at www.theknittingtreela.com/classes.

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Our current exhibition is Art Looms: Designing Weavers 2016 Exhibition, which will be up until May 21. New gallery hours are Friday-Sunday, noon to 5pm, so come visit us in Inglewood!

We are very excited to present this new work by the Designing Weavers, a southern California weaving guild that has been around since 1975. This exhibition shows many different ways weaving can create image and form, from basketry techniques to tapestry to double-weave structures.

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Branch Gallery is pleased to announce their upcoming exhibition, “Fiber Trails,” featuring work by Los Angeles fiber artist, Cameron Taylor-Brown. Fiber Trails features several series of artwork inspired by her journeys and includes Red Offerings (Bhutan), Majestic Stone (Peruvian Highlands), Colors of Gujarat (India) and LAVAfolds (Galapagos Islands, Ecuador). Taylor-Brown’s creative expression encompasses mixed media fiber collage, weaving and site-specific installation.  

“Fiber Trails celebrates the rich heritage and international language of textiles. Where there are people there is cloth. When I travel, I seek out textiles and their makers and am inspired by the diverse cultures and varied landscapes I encounter.”  - Cameron Taylor-Brown

A Fiber Trails presentation is scheduled for Saturday, October 21 at 2pm, where Cameron will share images of landscapes, people and their traditional textiles and discuss how her travels influence her artwork. A Fiber Trails workshop will be offered on October 28 from 10AM- 5PM. Participants will create a knitted, crocheted or woven design inspired by one of Cameron’s images or an image from their own journey. Their journey could be as far away as China or as close as their own backyard! Event details can be found online at www.theknittingtreela.com/classes.

About Cameron Taylor-Brown

Cameron Taylor-Brown studied fiber art at the University of California, Berkeley with artist Ed Rossbach and textile design at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science. She worked in New York City as a fabric stylist, taught textile design at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science (now Philadelphia University) and worked as an exhibition curator. Since 1985, Taylor-Brown has lived in Los Angeles where she is active in arts and education. She is a board member of the Fowler Textile Council, and was a past President of California Fibers and Designing Weavers. She recently founded ARTSgarage, a textile resource center in Los Angeles. Her work is widely exhibited and has been featured in Fiber Art Now, American Craft and Shuttle, Spindle and Dyepot. She teaches workshops throughout the United States and Canada.

camerontaylor-brown.com/

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Join us at Branch Gallery for an artist talk with Peggy Wiedemann to discuss her work. Learn more about Wiedemann’s creative process and inspiration behind her contemporary sculptures, as well as the techniques she uses that are reminiscent of traditional basketry. Check out more on our website.

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Join us for the opening reception for Peggy Wiedmann’s solo exhibition!

Wiedemann uses basketry techniques to create contemporary, one-of-a-kind sculptures. Many of the sculptures are made using natural fibers and materials, such as pine needles, grasses, and waxed linen thread. Wiedemann shapes these materials into sculptures, using coiling techniques to produce her vessels. She also includes metal or found objects into her pieces, combining them with natural elements to enrich her imagery.  

Wiedemann finds inspiration for her imagery in the materials she uses. Form, color, and overall design are dependent on how the materials respond to her hand manipulation. Through her high level of craftsmanship and care for details, Wiedemann hopes her unique work will stretch the audience’s imagination of what basketry and fiber art can be.

There will also be a boutique on site, selling  other handmade objects, such as: scarves, jewelry, and small framed works.

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These are some shots for our Reveries exhibition, featuring local crochet duo Threadwinners. They created landscape-inspired work, including a succulent tapestry, flower garden tapestry, a community tree, and more. Thanks to all who came out and supported the exhibition during the opening reception and artist talk!

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Thanks to all who came out for Deborah Weir’s artist talk last Saturday! Elemental will be on view through June 16th, so be sure to stop by this week or next week.

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Thanks to all who came out for our opening reception of Elemental! There will be another opportunity to meet the artist, Deborah Weir, on June 3rd at 3pm for her artist talk. Elemental will be on view through June 16th, so there’s plenty of time to stop by and see this beautiful work in person (the photos don’t do it justice!)

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Branch Gallery is pleased to announce their upcoming exhibition, “Elemental,” featuring local fiber artist Deborah Weir. This exhibition will include work from Weir’s series about the four basic elements: earth, fire, wind and water. Many of the pieces explore abstract ways of depicting these elements. Weir directly responds to the Earth’s increasing temperatures, violent wind storms, rising seas, and farm land erosion through varied processes and materials.

Inspired by climate change and the brutal effects it has on Earth, many of Weir’s pieces have been dyed and over-dyed to create depth in her imagery. Each piece contains numerous layers, constructed using collage, paper lamination, applique, felting, paint and other media. Finer markings are hand-stitched to add further detail in Weir’s imagery. Repurposed household plastics, bits of metal, and fabric integrate , revealing Weir’s perspective on the terror, excitement and beauty of Earth.

Along with the main exhibition, there will be a large boutique featuring many handmade objects from the Designing Weavers, including garments, scarves, jewelry, and other home goods.

About Deborah Weir Deborah Weir is a Southern California mixed media artist who uses primarily fiber and textiles in her work. Though contemporary in every sense, the work she does references traditional  “women’s work,” slowly built up, mostly by hand, with a needle, using gentle materials –  thread, floss, fabric – in addition to more modern, edgier ones such as Tyvek, metals and found objects. Her work is detailed, often with reflective surfaces and tiny, rich elements. Weir tends to work in series, pursuing themes of importance to her, including language, human rights, and the state of our planet. The objective of Weir’s work is to awaken the viewer’s mind by means of visual seduction.

deborahweir.net

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Pat Ahern joined us for the L.A. Yarn Crawl to demo his crochet techniques! He brought his living room set up to recreate his workspace in the gallery. Thanks to all who came out and jammed to Jimi Hendrix and chatted with Pat about his current WIP.