Suzanna James

Statement
My name is Suzanna James and I am an artist with a care-led, and socially engaged, interdisciplinary practice. I work with absences and presences in woven structures to consider the metaphor of social and ecological systems found within warp and weft, and with interdisciplinary forms through writing, photography, drawing, film and participatory practice. As a QEST Craft Scholar, I hold a double-scholarship MA in Textiles from the RCA, graduating in 2022. My distinction dissertation was selected as the Textiles candidate for the RCACHS symposium in 2021. The stitches I make create a shift in the original structure of the fabric, using absences created in the warp threads, and presences of new embroidery threads, to create a texture and structure that speaks through a volume of near invisible stitching, sometimes concealing stitched lettering in an exploration of textiles as language; cloth as a spokesperson, and subverted in temporal compositions. The shift in structures reflects a conceptual exploration of the social role of textiles and women makers. Since my double-scholarship MA in Textiles at the Royal College of Art in 2022 (QEST, WCFK) I have developed an international profile for my work which has recently been represented at Collect 2025, was selected for an Artistic Research Fellowship in Bergen, Norway, in 2024 and was awarded as a new professional of The Textiles Society of America 2024.

Disability information: Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Meares Irlen Syndrome and Neuro-Immune Condition.

In response to Louise Bourgeois The needle is used to repair damage, its claim to forgiveness In response to Louise Bourgeois The needle is used to repair damage, its claim to forgiveness In response to Linda Tuhiwai Smith: Openness to the Unknown My Beloved, Cloth surprises me with her whole truth

In response to Louise Bourgeois
The needle is used to repair damage, its claim to forgiveness photography, handmade textiles (embroidery, pulled thread)
420x594mm
(Image 1)

 In response to Louise Bourgeois
The needle is used to repair damage, its claim to forgiveness
photography, handmade textiles (embroidery, pulled thread)
420x594mm
(Image 2)
 In response to Linda Tuhiwai Smith: Openness to the Unknown
2022
photography, handmade textiles (pulled thread)
420x594mm
My Beloved, Cloth surprises me with her whole truth
2022
photography, handmade textiles (embroidery, pulled thread)
420x594mm
In response to bell hooks: You have been my most intimate listener In response to bell hooks: You have been my most intimate listener In response to Kate Baer: I wish you would disappear is what you say when you stay silent In response to Dana Sonnenschein: The art of making something of absences
In response to bell hooks: You have been my most intimate listener
2022
photography, handmade textiles (Cotton, Muslin, Thread, Ink)
420x594mm

In response to bell hooks: You have been my most intimate listener
2022
photography, handmade textiles (Cotton, Muslin, Thread, Ink)
420x594mm

In response to Kate Baer: I wish you would disappear is what you say when you stay silent
2022
photography, handmade textiles (pulled thread)
420x594mm
In response to Dana Sonnenschein: The art of making something of absences
2022
photography, handmade textiles (stitch, pulled thread)
420x594mm