October marks Long Beach Arts Month and the Long Beach Post has partnered with the Arts Council for Long Beach to celebrate the image makers, the painters, the dancers, the designers, the musicians, and the countless other artists who make our city vibrant and cultured. Our homepage will feature an artist’s own unique interpretation of Long Beach daily so make sure to check back every weekday to discover or rediscover a local talent.
CSULB student Brianna Meli is a self-described “lover of all things,” particularly fiber arts, an art form that hones in on the artist’s creation of fabrics and patterns. Though many fiber artists create fabrics that are used for couches, apparel and curtains, the art is largely considered more aesthetically-driven than consumer-driven, showcasing the fiber artist’s incredible attention to minute details including sewing patterns and dye processes.
Meli’s piece is no exception, the result of what you see a complex process including one swatch of fabric that wen through eight different coloring processes.
“My header features hand dyed textiles with techniques that include various Shibori techniques with Indigo, various Shibori techniques with Fiber Reactive Dyes, and Batik techniques with Fiber Reactive Dyes,” Meli said. “I am exploring the medium in great depth to get various patterns, color saturations, and overall balance.”
Though Meli’s focus in her arts education has largely been driven by illustration and drawing/painitng, it was bicycles that brought her to the fiber arts. The LA-based by-cyclists-for-cyclists bag manufacturer, Road Runner Bags, became the catalyst for her realizing how fiber arts—in a philosophy that bucks the idea that the fiber arts are “only aesthetic in value”—are essential for people’s everyday use. The bag company makes high-quality bags for cyclists that are durable and beautiful.
“Ultimately, I’m working to create pieces that weave my love of illustration with my love of creating useful objects in a sewing andmanufacturing environment,” Meli said.
Oh, and Meli also makes and issues her own zines under the moniker Melt Brianna.