I am a creative professional who has enjoyed working on a wide variety of projects – as an artist, graphic designer, cultural worker, entrepreneur, and art director for some of the world’s biggest brands. Here are some recent, selected details.

Education

2016 MFA in Fine Arts. California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA.
1997 BFA in Communication Design. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.

Long–Term Projects

2024  Around the Tablecloth

A series of meetings combining embroidery and conversation. Berlin, Germany and Wrocław, Poland

2023  The Trzepak

Community textile workshops and social sculpture. Łódż, Poland

2018-2024  Feral Fabric Story Quilts

A narrative quilt project with people experiencing homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. In partnership with Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS) Family Shelter in Berkeley and BOSS temporary shelter Hayward, Raphael House Family Homeless Shelter in San Francisco, The Village Pop-up Free Stores Oakland, Punks With Lunch, Oakland, Women’s Daytime Drop-In Center, Berkeley, Here/There Camp on the Berkeley/Oakland border.

2018-2024  Feral Fabric Journal

An online scholarly periodical dedicated to radical textiles in art, activism, and social movements, and of the related print publication released in 2024.

2018-2021  Feral Fabric Back Patch and Banner Workshops

2021 Back Patch Workshop (virtual), Scrap Creative Reuse, San Francisco
2021 Back Patch Workshop (virtual), Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley
2020 Community Banner, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley
2019 Back Patch Workshop, NIAD Art Center, Richmond
2019 Community Textile Workshops, Sunday Streets, San Francisco
2019 Banner-Making Workshop May Day workers event, Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland
2018 Banner Making Workshop. Oakland Pride Parade, Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland
2018 Back Patch Workshop  Figment : De-Commodified Participatory Art Event, Oakland
2018 Back Patch and Banner Workshop, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley

2004-2022 FluffyCo

FluffyCo was a San Francisco-based sustainable lifestyle and fashion brand. It was distributed through 300+ independent shops and chain retailers primarily in the US and Canada but also in Japan, Australia, and Europe. Creative collaborations included Target, Urban Outfitters, ModCloth and Crate&Barrel. Roles: owner, creative director, design, project management, production. FluffyCo later morphed into the ecommerce site Wavy Matter which also sold sustainably-made products by other independent companies and makers.

Participatory and Site Specific

2024 Quiet Time. Open Air Super 8 projection and string game workshop. Berlin

2023 We Can Be Heroes. Cape-Making workshop. ZuHaus, Berlin

2021 Community Banner, High Desert Test Sites HQ. Sky Village Swap Meet, Yucca Valley

2019 Encounters Participatory, Experimental Art Weekends, Nevada City, CA

2018 Swap Meet Story Quilt. High Desert Test Sites HQ. Sky Village Swap Meet, Yucca Valley

2017 Being There. High Desert Test Sites HQ. Sky Village Swap Meet, Yucca Valley

2017 Wind Blanket. JT Lab. Joshua Tree National Park

2015 Flag Zine. Green River, Utah

Exhibitions

2025 The Star. HB55 Kunstfabrik, Berlin

2025 Sleep. HB55 Kunstfabrik, Berlin

2024  Margarine Collective HB55 Kunstfabrik, Berlin

2022 Feral Fabric Story Quilts. Solo. Pro-Arts, Oakland

2020 Feral Fabric Snake Banner & The Workshop. Solo. Berkeley Art Center

2017 PATA Kobro Gallery, Akademia Sztuk Pieknych, Łódź, Poland

2016 Capes and Knock Offs. Solo. Vacation, San Francisco

2016 After Pop Life Curated by Glen Helfland. Minnesota Street Project, SF

2016 Home. Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland

2016 California College of the Arts. MFA Exhibition, Minnesota Street Project, SF

2015 Technophilia. Embark Gallery, SF

Awards, Grants, Commissions

2024 AIRZusa: What’s Next Residency. Berlin, Germany

2023 Prelinger Library, San Francisco. For research on utopias and intentional communities

2022 Fulbright Program Grant. Łódż, Poland

2022 Southern Exposure: Alternative Exposure Grant for Feral Fabric Journal. SF Bay Area.

2020 City of Berkeley Individual Artist Grant for Feral Fabric Story Quilts. Berkeley, California.

2020 Commission: Berkeley Art Center Feral Fabric Community Snake Banner. Berkeley, California. 

2014 Merit Scholarship, California College of the Arts. 2 years. San Francisco.

2015 Travel Grant. California College of the Arts. San Francisco, California.

Lectures and Academic

2023 Lecture: The Trzepak. Academy of Fine Arts, Łódż, Poland.

2023 Lecture: Textiles, Nature and Place. University of the Arts, Poznań, Poland

2022 Lecture: Contemporary American Textiles. University of the Arts, Poznań, Poland

2017 Guest Alumni Critic. California College of the Arts, San Francisco

2016 Guest Lecturer, Textiles department. California College of the Arts, San Francisco

2016 Teaching Assistant. California College of the Arts, San Francisco : New Media

2015 Teaching Assistant. California College of the Arts, San Francisco : Textiles

2011 Guest Lecturer. ModCloth Academy, San Francisco

Writing

2024 Community through Camo: Weaving War Nets for the Ukrainian Front. Feral Fabric Journal, Volume 7

2021 Sheila Klein on Functional Fabrics, Architecture, and Singing the Same Tune. Feral Fabric Journal, Volume 5

2021 Exhibition review: Rosie Lee Tompkins at BAM/PFA. Textile: A Journal of Cloth and Culture, UK

2021 Social Action Considered Through the Language of Textiles. Feral Fabric Journal, Volume 3

2020 Radical Excess: the Art and Life of Bill Bowers. Published in Feral Fabric Journal, Volume 1

Select Publications & Press

2020 Sharing your Practice: Curriculum by Lukaza Branfman-Verrisimo for Berkeley Art Museum

2018 Going Feral with Fabric by Lou Fancher. The East Bay Monthly

2018 Amanda Walters and Paulina Berczynski go Feral with Fabric by Lou Fancher. Alameda Magazine

2013 The Bay, Creators of Style by Liz Caruana

2012 InStyle Magazine - FluffyCo

2008 Design*Sponge.com - FluffyCo multiple mentions 2008-2012)

2008 Elle Magazine - FluffyCo