STATEMENT: Growing up as the son of a craft-loving English teacher, I spent many hours pursuing crafts and playing Scrabble. As I grew older, I believed that in order to fit in with my peers, I had to be in the closet about my crafting, eventually stopping my creative activities altogether. My Scrabble playing, however, continued and turned into a life-long love of the study of language intersecting with my current art practice. In 1996, I signed up for a textiles class, thereby reawakening my dormant artistic side. I am attracted to textiles because textiles are like language – both are subtle, yet powerful. Also, both can protect, expose, reveal social position, and show affiliation. I later learned that the words textile and text are derived from the same root, and several of my earlier pieces are focused on this text-textile connection. My focus has since expanded beyond this literal connection to the multi-layered texts or readings of the cloth. Recent themes that have emerged are the socialization of American men to be violent and conflicting views on sexuality/masculinity. My hope is that upon reading my work, viewers will engage in a dialogue about the confining nature of behavioral norms.

CV: REPRESENTATION •Northern California:
-Brady & Michelle Blakeley of Evolve the Gallery, 2907 35th Street, Sacramento, CA 95817; info@evolvethegallery.com, 916-572-5123.

SELECTED EXHIBITS
•A.I.D.S. Artists Intent on Destroying Stereotypes. Evolve the Gallery, Sacramento, CA; 12/9/10-1/17/11. Curators: Brady & Michelle Blakeley.
•EMERGE: The Next Generation of Masters. Evolve the Gallery, Sacramento, CA; 11/11-28/10. Curators: Brady & Michelle Blakeley.
•From the Tongue. Lotus Salon/34 North Moore Exhibition Space, New York, NY; 6/24-8/6/10. Curator: Joetta Maue.
•Chronotopia. SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA; 6/5-30/10. Curators: Cheryl Dunye, Tirza True Latimer, Rudy Lemcke, Matt McKinley, Pamela Penniston, Tina Takemoto.
•MFA Thesis Exhibition. SF State Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco, CA; 4/24-5/14/10.
•Drawing in Thread: Contemporary Embroidery, The Gallery at Mt. Ida College, Newton, MA; 3/30-5/2/10. Curators: Kathleen Driscoll, John Tricomi.
•Reinvention: Textiles from Textiles Conference Speakers and Presenters, Cesar Chavez Center Art Gallery, SFSU, San Francisco, CA; 3/18-4/22/10.
•again and again and again: repeat pattern, now and then, The Artery, SFSU, San Francisco, CA; 3/4-4/8/10. Curator: Vic De La Rosa.
•Continuum, Martin Wong Gallery, SFSU, San Francisco, CA; USA, March 4-April 8, 2010. Curator: Vic De La Rosa.
•Birmingham Queer Open, Birmingham, England, 11/3-6/09. Curators: David Viney et al.
•Art Department Office Invited Exhibit, SFSU, San Francisco, CA; 8/24/09-5/30/10.
•Threads, SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA; 6/7-26/09. Curators: Tirza Latimer, Rudy Lemcke, Matt McKinley, Pamela Penniston, Allison Smith, Tina Takemoto.
•Twentieth Annual Stillwell Exhibition, SFSU Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco, CA; 2/24-3/19/09. Curator: Karen Kienzle.
•North American Graduate Art Survey, Katherine E. Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN; 1/20-2/19/09.
•Design Shibori, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France, 10/27-118/08.
•Immediate Future: The 2008 Murphy & Cadogan Fellowships in the Fine Arts, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA; 9/6-1018/08. Curators: Dana Hemenway and Meg Shiffler.
•artSpace, Civic Center Plaza, Thirty-eighth Annual San Francisco LGBT Celebration and Parade, San Francisco, CA; 6/29/08. Curator: Robert Melton.
•The Fabric of Cultures: Fashion, Identity, Globalization, Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco, CA; 2/15-4/27/08. Curator: Amy Winter, Ph.D.
•Baulines Craft Guild Master Annual Exhibition, Artworks Downtown, San Rafael, CA; 11/6-12/7/07.
•Nancy Boy traveled to City College of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA, October 1-26, 2007.
•Raised in Craftivity, Greenlease Gallery, Kansas City, MO; 9/7-29/07. Curator: Maria Buszek, Ph.D.
•Handymen and Girly Boys: Masculinity, Craft, and Culture, Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO; 4/27-8/18/07. Curator: Maria Buszek.
•Nancy Boy traveled to Truman State University, Kirksville, MO; 10/16-11/17/06.
•Inspired by Marin – The Spirit of the Baulines Craft Guild, Marin Community Foundation, Novato, CA; 2/21-5/4/06.
•Nancy Boy traveled to L.H. Horton, Jr. Gallery, San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton, CA; 10/6-11/3/05.
•Nancy Boy, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA; 1/25-3/20/05. Curator: Nancy Mizuno Elliott.

REVIEWS OF SHOWS AND WORK
•Elcin, M. “From the Tongue Part Deux.” Colored Thread (http://colored-thread.blogspot.com/2010/06/from-tongue-part-deux.html), 6/27/10.
•Floresita. “From the Tongue Exhibit.“Floresita: Things I’ve Made.” (http://unafloresita.blogspot.com/2010/06/from-tongue-exhibit-34-north-moore-nyc.html) 6/25/10.
•Beltran, J.D. “State of the Artists.” Art and Culture Fix, SFGate (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/beltran/detail?blogid=85&entry_id=63380), 5/12/10.
•Nickels, Penny. “A Sampling of Samplers.” Needle Exchange (http://www.mrxstitch.com/2010/05/12/needle-exchange-a-sampling-of-samplers-2/), 5/12/10.
•De Vries, Heidi. “sfsu mfa2010.” Engineer’s Daughter (http://engineersdaughter.typepad.com/engineers_daughter/2010/05/sfsu-mfa-2010.html), 5/3/10
•Bruncaj, L. Untitled posting on Lady Hazard’s Guide to Life (http://ladyhazard.tumblr.com/post/472655866/bren-ahearn-is-amazing-the-pussy-sampler-comes-in), 3/25/10.
•Abalos, L.C. “Making fabrics into more than just pretty clothes.” The Golden Gate [X]Press, 3/24/10, p.8.
•Maue, J. “Oversize Samplers.” Little Yellow Birds (http://littleyellowbirds.blogspot.com/2010/02/oversize-samplers.html), 2/23/10. •Chalmers, J. “The Cutting (and Stitching) Edge -- Bren Ahearn.” Mr. X Stitch (http://www.mrxstitch.com/2009/10/08/the-cutting-stitching-edge-bren-ahearn/), 10/8/09.
•Roberts, H. “Manbroidery by Bren Ahearn.” Feeling Crafty (http://helenroberts.blogspot.com/2009/09/manbroidery-by-bren-ahearn.html), 9/9/09.
•Granata, F. “CAA 2009 Los Angeles (and fashion).” Fashion Projects (http://www.fashionprojects.org/?p=539), 3/9/09.
•“Looking Outside Yourself. Artists from all over North America come together for a new exhibit at the Nash Gallery.” MN Daily (http://www.mndaily.com/2009/01/29/looking-outside-yourself?page=2), 1/28/09.
•Maue, J. “Emerging Artists at Work.” Little Yellow Birds (http://littleyellowbirds.blogspot.com/2008/11/emerging-artists-at-work.html), 11/14/08.
•Trafton, R. “‘Raised in Craftivity’ is engaging group show.” Kansas City Star, 9/20/07.
•Self, D. “Thread Counts. Maria Elena Buzek’s boys try their hand at the girly arts.” The Pitch Kansas City, 6/7/07.
•Morris, B. “’Nancy Boy’ at Richmond Art Center.” Artweek, May 2005, p. 15.
•Rogers, N. “Tablet Weaving and the Twist Meeting at Conference of Northern California Handweavers [CNCH] 2004.” Tablet Weavers’ International Studies and Techniques Journal, Summer 2004, p. 4.

CATALOGS •SFSU MFA 2010, 2010, pp. 2-3. •Drawing in Thread: Contemporary Embroidery, 2010, p. 3. •Shibori, 2008, pp. 22-23.

APPEARANCE OF WORK/ARTIST OR REFERENCE TO WORK/ARTIST IN PUBLICATIONS AND/OR PRESENTATIONS BY OTHERS •McDade, Marci Rae. “Reinvention in San Francisco.” Fiberarts, Summer 2010, p. 8. •“Extreme Embroidery.” la Motif (http://lamotif.com/2010/05/15/extreme-embroidery/), May 15, 2010. •Woog, D. “Crafting a Career.” Nationally syndicated interview appearing in several publications, including The Rainbow Times, 3(10), November 5-December 2, 2009, p. 23; Between the Lines News, Issue 1746, November 12, 2009; and ACCESSline, 23(9), December 2009. •De La Rosa, V. “Unraveling Fiber Education.” Fiberarts, November/December 2009, p. 8. •QCA. The Newsletter of the Queer Caucus for Art, 21(2), June 2009, p. 2. •University of Minnesota Digital Content Library (ID numbers: AR002599, AR002600), 2009-present. •Kahn, J.M. “Faggotstitch.” Queering Craft roundtable, College Art Association, Los Angeles, CA, USA, February 27, 2009. •“2008 Student Showcase.” Fiberarts, November/December 2008, p. 46. •Williams College Women’s and Gender Studies Department webpage (http://wgst.williams.edu/), August 15, 2008-present. •“Letters from our Readers.” Fiberarts, November/December 2007, p. 6. •“Gallery.” American Craft, August/September 2007, p. 73. •“Dozens of Exhibitions, Conference in Kansas City.” Fiberarts, Summer 2007, p. 18. •Meetze, J. “Celebration Coat Inspired by an Article in Handwoven.” Handwoven, May/June 2007, pp. 68-71. •Brackmann, H., The Surface Designer’s Handbook: Dyeing, Printing, Painting, and Creating Resists on Fabric. Loveland, CO; Interweave Press, 2006, pp 44, 99.

PRESENTATIONS/PANELS •Thread of Masculinity. San Francisco State University Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA, April 29, 2010. •Crafty Queers, v. 2.0. Queer Art History Course, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA, April 28, 2010. •Emerging Artists. Panelist, Reinvention Conference sponsored by Studio Art Quilts Associates and Surface Design Association, San Francisco, CA, USA, March 20, 2010. Moderator: Vic De La Rosa. •Crafty Queers. Queer Art History Course, San Francisco State University, April 28, 2009. •The Journey Continues. Golden Gate Weavers Guild, Berkeley, CA, USA, November 21, 2005. •The Journey Continues. Silverado Weaving Guild, Napa, CA, USA, February 28, 2005. •My Journey Through Weaving. Tamalpais Weaving Guild, Marin County, CA, USA, November 19, 2002.

PUBLICATIONS •Ahearn, B. “Response to Letter to Editor.” In Letters from our Readers, Fiberarts, November/December 2007, p. 6. •Ahearn, B. “Celebrate with Cloth in Strip-Woven Shadow Weave.” Handwoven, Mar./Apr. 2005, pp. 52-55. •Ahearn, B. “Weave Shibori Bookmarks and Mark Your Weaving Journey.” Handwoven, Sept./Oct. 2004, pp. 58-63.

EDUCATION •San Francisco State University (SFSU), San Francisco, CA, USA Master of Fine Arts in Textiles candidate, 2010 •Monterey Institute of