Dan Faltz, the Huntington Beach Art Center’s senior cultural arts supervisor, laughed after describing a larger-than-life work as “Grandma’s doily meets Spider-Man.”
The artist herself, Ashley V. Blalock of San Diego, doesn’t see that as too far from the truth.
“Depending on your age, you may or may not really understand what doilies are, I guess,” Blalock said. “A lot of people of certain ages will recognize them as doilies, and a lot of people who are young kids and stuff will call them spiderwebs. It’s kind of interesting.”
Blalock’s large red cotton yarn creation of four circles, “Keeping Up Appearances,” is one of several pieces on display at the art center for the next couple of months as part of a new show.
Huntington Beach artist Peggy Wiedemann stands with her piece “Disguise” at the Huntington Beach Art Center Tuesday.
(Don Leach | Staff Photographer)
“California Fibers: The Languages of Fiber” runs through Oct. 24, with an opening reception taking place from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday.
Suzanne Isken, who served as executive director of the Craft Contemporary from 2011-23 juried the exhibition.
“The exhibition title … invites viewers to consider fiber as a form of communication — one that speaks through structure, material and process,” Isken wrote in a note about the show. “Throughout history, textiles have carried stories, encoded cultural knowledge, marked identity and recorded human experience.
“If structure is the syntax of fiber’s language, then diction is its texture, rhythm, pattern and farm. The exhibition shows how contemporary artists continue that conversation, expanding textile traditions into new forms of abstract visual expression.”
California Fibers is a statewide juried collection of fiber artists. It is part of the Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026 initiative spearheaded by the nonprofit Craft in America, and is a celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary, Faltz said.
“It’s been a nice intersection of local artists, the statewide organization of California Fibers and the national initiative of Handwork 2026,” Faltz said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to elevate the profile of the art center in that way.”
Soft sculptures by artist Marty Ornish hang from the ceiling in “California Fibers: The Languages of Fiber” at the Huntington Beach Art Center.
(Don Leach | Staff Photographer)
Blalock grew up crocheting, thanks to her grandmother and great-aunt. She has done the installation many times and came up to Orange County to self-install the piece, which took four or five hours.
“The hardest thing is picking the first [doily] and placing it,” she said. “That one is kind of toned down compared to some of the others I’ve done. It was kind of nice to do something that has fewer but more intricate [doilies], and then to pull them slightly off the wall, so that it’s not disrupting anyone else’s pieces.”
Huntington Beach resident Peggy Wiedemann has a pair of pieces in the exhibit. Like Blalock, Wiedemann had a background in painting but moved into fiber art.
A signature piece on display in a “California Fibers: The Languages of Fiber” exhibit at the Huntington Beach Art Center, which runs through Oct. 24.
(Don Leach | Staff Photographer)
She uses a basket technique called knotless netting in her piece “Disguise,” which features coil and pine needles. Silk and wire are some of the other media used by the 23 showcased artists.
“You don’t think of wire as fiber, but it is,” Wiedemann said.
The exhibit is the first to open at the center since the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum moved to the Main Street Branch Library across the street. Surf City leaders have expressed hope that a new kind of cultural district could be birthed a few blocks up Main Street.
“I think it’s an opportunity for synergy,” Faltz said. “There’s the possibility of blocking off the street and having block parties and art fairs, so there’s a real opportunity to join forces and offer joint programming. It allows us to really tap into cultural tourism, to boost our economy in that way.”
An art installation at “California Fibers: The Languages of Fiber” exhibition undeway at the Huntington Beach Art Center.
(Don Leach | Staff Photographer)