Join us virtually for a talk with CCA Alumni regarding the artistry of textiles!

FEATURED ARTISTS:

Sierra Reading (CCA BFA Textiles 2012) - Sierra Reading is a fifth generation Northern California Native and Bay Area artist who works within the fields of education, sustainable fashion, and textiles.  She has earned her BFA in Textiles from the California College of the Arts, and a MA in Art Education through the Maryland Institute College of Art.  Commercially, Sierra works exclusively with plant-derived dyes to create seasonal color collections for a variety of designers, and practices the craft of mending and repairing for clients and friends.  In her personal art practice, Sierra uses traditional textile processes to create scenarios in which participants collectively interact  with cloth as a way to create community and connections surrounding sustainability and the stories behind what we wear.  Raised in a small farming community, Sierra grew up with an understanding and deep connection to where her food came from.  Inspired by this awareness, and curiosity, Sierra strives to connect people to the plants and processes that make and dye our clothing through her teaching and art practice.

Elizabeth Hohimer (CCA BFA Textiles 2016) - Elizabeth Hohimer is an artist from Texas, born in 1991. She received her BFA in Textiles from the California College of the Arts. She is currently working from an adobe in Taos. Her work is bound through an intersection of skilled tradition and a contemporary dialog between materials, memory and self.

Hohimer works between two European floor looms to create her Woven Paintings. These works along with Hohimer's steel and agave fiber soft sculptures represent harnessed feelings from immersing oneself in a color, place or emotion. Hohimer's woven paintings carry in them a lingering atmospheric nostalgia. Her studio practice is built behind the inherent trust that through channeling sublime emotions and recalling such lived experiences while making there will be a transference and merging with these feeling into the woven paintings being produced. The suspended passage of time that takes place where the horizon line is visible is integral for clarity to be found for Elizabeth. Process choices within production give time and space for the artist to re-harmonize dissonance, gaining potency. A sense of ethereal, allegorical, philosophical tendencies that are not grounded or interested in reality of the present are integrated into her practice.

Kayleen Dejesus (CCA BFA 2017) - Kayleen Dejesus(B.1994) also known as "Kayleendaa," is a Puerto Rican artist who is based in both rural Pennsylvania and Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Kayleendaa relocated to California in 2012 to pursue studies in textiles and graphic design. She decided to take a different path after receiving her BFA in textiles from the California College of the Arts in 2016 and later shifted her focus to the fine line-work paintings for which she is now known for.

Her detailed line work, whether on canvas or paper, is emotionally charged; it is composed of intricately illustrated animals in a dream-like setting, toying with the concept of her subconsciousness. Her escapist style is bold and expressive, challenging her perception of reality. Her palette is comprised of saturated and ethereal hues, suggesting a hopeful and optimistic outcome. Under the surface, it's showing signs of fragility, fear, and survival while simultaneously displaying a measure of calm.

She has worked for companies such as Levis Strauss as their in-house print designer for the mens global line, during her time there, she collaborated with people such as Travis Scott, Snoop Dog and Denim Tears. Since then, she has collaborated with boutique brands, creating one of a kind print and pattern for their seasonal collections.

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