WH Design Studio hosted a reception on Saturday to introduce its latest exhibit "Works in Fiber."  

Work from artists Dawn Wakiya, Ellen Dickinson, Chris Taylor and Christine Reeves Pope will be on display as part of the exhibit through Nov. 6.  

Fiber art is a style of fine art that employs textiles such as fabric and yarn, along with natural and synthetic fibers. Much of its significance stems from the actual manual labor involved.  The broad title encompasses everything from spinning cloth into yarn and knitting or crocheting the yarn to make elaborate wall tapestries, impeccably crafted rugs, felting, braiding or plaiting macrame, lace making, a wide variety of dye techniques and other similar creations.  

In order for a piece to be considered fiber art, it must serve more than a utilitarian purpose, which, for example, would be a potholder made from simply following a pattern.  Works of fiber art go beyond mere practicality, to convey some sort of meaning or emotion, transcending—and at times subverting— the everyday understanding of the materials.

To demonstrate the art, Vinny D'Aguanno, owner of Rumpelstiltskin Yarns in Sayville, spun yarn at a spinning wheel at the reception. While he sits at his spinning wheel he often recites a Hawaiian meditation called ho'oponopono, which consists of repeating the simple mantra: "I'm sorry.  I love you.  Please forgive me. Thank you."  

"It awakens the subconscious, and brings forth ideas and creativity," he said. "When you say it, it brings you into another world."

Dawn Wakiya

A designer at the gallery, her primary fiber arts form is weaving. She is mainly self-taught and earned a degree in both graphic and interior Design. While her previous work with fiber had utilized mainly collage and mixed media on canvas and wood panel, her recent artistic endeavors have veered toward pure loom weaving.

"I wanted to put together a show with a lot of people involved in fiber art to help bring it back," she said. " It's not all knitting and crocheting."

Ellen Dickinson

As an apprentice to Les Bohnenkamp, an early proponent of fiber sculpture, she fashions sculptures from warp linen thread and clothesline.  Dickinson received a BFA in studio art from Adelphi University in 2005, but is self-taught in this process.

"I use a basketry technique called coiling and I've adapted it to do more three dimensional sculptures, as opposed to a basket," she said. "It's all free standing. There are no supports inside."

Chris Taylor

The award-winning artist is a graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook.  She is accomplished in watercolor, oil, pastel and stone sculpture. Her current passion is Batik, an ancient art form that is regaining ground in the modern world with new added technologies and techniques.  Intricate designs are created with a wax-and-dye process, resulting in a one-of-a-kind creation.

"The dye forms a chemical reaction at the cellular level, if you do it right," she said.

Taylor currently serves on the board of directors of the South Bay Art Association of Bellport and is co-owner of the Phoenix Fine Arts Gallery, also in Bellport.

"Batik is fun," she said. "The techniques I have learned have helped me become a better artist in other media such as water color and oil."

Christine Reeves Pope

She is an embroiderer from Guanajuato, Mexico, and was born in 1919 in Moulton, Alabama.  When she was three, her mother died and she went to the Alabama Baptist Children's Home.  It was there that she first learned to sew, and was taught to embroider linens.  After remaining at the home until the age of 18, she married and raised three children in Houston.  It wasn't until after her kids were nearly grown that she again took up the craft.

"This is my mother's work," said her daughter Petra Pope. Petra came to the reception representing her mother because, at age 91, she couldn't make the trip from Mexico to Patchogue.

"At 91 she still creates," Wakiya said. "I wanted this juxtaposition of old and cutting edge and I'm happy with how it turned out."

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