About
Artist Statement
CV
Education
2016 MFA in Fine Art. 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 about personal histories, cuture, traditions, and mental health. Berlin, Germany and Wrocław, Poland
2023 The Trzepak
A series of community textile workshops and a neighborhood social sculpture. In cooperation with the Academy of Fine Arts and Stowarzyszenie “Dla Rodziny” in 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. The related print publication was released in 2024.
2018-2021 Feral Fabric Textile-based 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 Workshop, May Day workers event, Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland
2018 Banner Workshop, Oakland Pride Parade, Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland
2018 Back Patch Workshop, Figment, 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. Also operated as the online shop Wavy Matter.
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, CA
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, CA
2017 Being There High Desert Test Sites HQ. Sky Village Swap Meet, Yucca Valley, CA
2017 Wind Blanket JT Lab. Joshua Tree National Park, CA
2015 Flag Zine Green River, Utah
Exhibitions
(selected)
2025 The Star. Solo exhibition (May). HB55 Kunstfabrik, Berlin
2025 Sleep HB55 Kunstfabrik, Berlin
2024 Margarine Collective. HB55 Kunstfabrik, Berlin
2022 Feral Fabric Story Quilts. Solo exhibition. Pro-Arts, Oakland
2020 Feral Fabric Snake Banner & The Workshop. Solo exhibition. Berkeley Art Center
2017 PATA Kobro Gallery, Akademia Sztuk Pieknych, Łódź, Poland
2016 Capes and Knock Offs. Solo exhibition. 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
2015 Technophilia. Embark Gallery, SF
Awards, Grants, Commissions
2024 AIRZusa: What’s Next Residency. Berlin, Germany
2023 Looms and Labor Intensive. Pickle Bar / Slavs and Tatars, Berlin, Germany
2023 Prelinger Library, San Francisco. Research grant
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, CA
2020 Commission: Berkeley Art Center- Feral Fabric Community Snake Banner and The Workshop. Berkeley, CA
2015 Travel Grant. California College of the Arts. San Francisco
2014 Merit Scholarship, California College of the Arts. 2 years. San Francisco
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 Textile Art. University of the Arts, Poznań, Poland
2017 Guest Alumni Critic. California College of the Arts, San Francisco
2016 Guest Lecturer in the 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. FF Journal, Volume 7
2021 Sheila Klein on Functional Fabrics, Architecture, and Singing the Same Tune. FF 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. FF Journal, Volume 3
2020 Radical Excess: the Art and Life of Bill Bowers. Feral Fabric Journal, Volume 1
Publications & Press (selected)
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
Languages
C2 English
C1 Polish
A2 Spanish
A1 German, French
Artist Statement
CV
Education
2016 MFA in Fine Art. 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 about personal histories, cuture, traditions, and mental health. Berlin, Germany and Wrocław, Poland
2023 The Trzepak
A series of community textile workshops and a neighborhood social sculpture. In cooperation with the Academy of Fine Arts and Stowarzyszenie “Dla Rodziny” in 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. The related print publication was released in 2024.
2018-2021 Feral Fabric Textile-based 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 Workshop, May Day workers event, Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland
2018 Banner Workshop, Oakland Pride Parade, Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland
2018 Back Patch Workshop, Figment, 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. Also operated as the online shop Wavy Matter.
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, CA
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, CA
2017 Being There High Desert Test Sites HQ. Sky Village Swap Meet, Yucca Valley, CA
2017 Wind Blanket JT Lab. Joshua Tree National Park, CA
2015 Flag Zine Green River, Utah
Exhibitions
(selected)
2025 The Star. Solo exhibition (May). HB55 Kunstfabrik, Berlin
2025 Sleep HB55 Kunstfabrik, Berlin
2024 Margarine Collective. HB55 Kunstfabrik, Berlin
2022 Feral Fabric Story Quilts. Solo exhibition. Pro-Arts, Oakland
2020 Feral Fabric Snake Banner & The Workshop. Solo exhibition. Berkeley Art Center
2017 PATA Kobro Gallery, Akademia Sztuk Pieknych, Łódź, Poland
2016 Capes and Knock Offs. Solo exhibition. 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
2015 Technophilia. Embark Gallery, SF
Awards, Grants, Commissions
2024 AIRZusa: What’s Next Residency. Berlin, Germany
2023 Looms and Labor Intensive. Pickle Bar / Slavs and Tatars, Berlin, Germany
2023 Prelinger Library, San Francisco. Research grant
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, CA
2020 Commission: Berkeley Art Center- Feral Fabric Community Snake Banner and The Workshop. Berkeley, CA
2015 Travel Grant. California College of the Arts. San Francisco
2014 Merit Scholarship, California College of the Arts. 2 years. San Francisco
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 Textile Art. University of the Arts, Poznań, Poland
2017 Guest Alumni Critic. California College of the Arts, San Francisco
2016 Guest Lecturer in the 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. FF Journal, Volume 7
2021 Sheila Klein on Functional Fabrics, Architecture, and Singing the Same Tune. FF 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. FF Journal, Volume 3
2020 Radical Excess: the Art and Life of Bill Bowers. Feral Fabric Journal, Volume 1
Publications & Press (selected)
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
Languages
C2 English
C1 Polish
A2 Spanish
A1 German, French