Suzanna James has been the recipient of The Textile Society Undergraduate Award, the Peter Jensen and Winchester School of Art Fashion Textiles Award, an Arts Council of Wales Professional Development Award, a Wales Arts International ‘International Opportunities’ Award, a Coats Foundation Bursary Trust Scholarship, a QEST Craft Scholarship and a Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters MA award. 

She has also been a runner up, a shortlisted candidate, a finalist and nominated graduate of several awards including the David Band Textiles Award, The Abury Design Experience, The Needlemaker’s Award at Cockpit Arts, The Broderers’ Award at Cockpit Arts and the TEXPRINT Top Graduates of 2015. 

She graduated with a double-scholarship award MA in Textiles from the RCA in 2022 and recently participated in an artistic research fellowship at KMD Bergen, and is currently a PhD Researcher at the University of the Arts London, working across social action, education and making contexts, connected through her philosophy of making and writing as a vehicles for sustainability’s social justice. She teaches regenerative sustainability at Falmouth University, as well as a breadth of curriculum contributions at Winchester School of Art, and Cardiff School of Art and Design. Her work is at the intersection of textiles and social action through a focus on cultural sustainability and regenerative social arts practice, having previously focussed on working with women’s making groups, which include the Syrian and Afghan Resettlement Project at the Refugee Council and the Awamaki cooperatives in Ollantaytambo, Peru.

Her practice considers the inherent link between women and the handmade and her distinction dissertation at the RCA developed the concept of Caring Cloth praxis, a care-led social practice, and meeting place of writing and making, in response to the words of Louise Bourgeois: ‘the needle is used to repair damage. It’s claim to forgiveness’.

Awards/Scholarships:

• 2024: Student and New Professional Research Symposium Presentation Award - Textile Society of America

• 2023: The Broderers’ Award - Cockpit Arts - Shortlist

• 2022: The Needlemakers’ Award - Cockpit Arts - Shortlist

• 2022: The Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters

• 2021: QEST Craft Scholarship, The Ashley Family Foundation - The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust

• 2020: The Coats Foundation Bursary Trust Scholarship

• 2019: Wales Arts International (International Opportunities Fund Award, Arts Council of Wales)

• 2019: The Arts Council of Wales (Professional Development Award)

• 2018: The Abury Design Experience (Finalist)

• 2015: The Textiles Society Undergraduate Award

• 2015: The Winchester School of Art and Peter Jensen Fashion Textiles Award

• 2015: The David Band Textiles Award at Graduate Fashion Week (Runner Up)

• 2015: TEXPRINT (Top 50 Graduates)

Showcases/Exhibitions

• 2024: Tekstilindustrimuseet, Salhus, Norway

• 2024: ‘Session 001’ - Galeria Azur, Karl-Marx Allee, Berlin (Postponed)

• 2023: DAA Art: ‘Echoes of Belonging’ - Curated by Vittoria Beltrame - Longacre, London

• 2023: Wales Week London with First of March - Maker Showcase, London

• 2022: DAA Art: Towards A New Intellectual Cosmos: A Reflection on Contemporary Forms of Expressions - Online

• 2022: Royal College of Art MA Show - RCA Battersea, London

• 2022: Royal College of Art Work in Progress Show - RCA Kensington, London

• 2021: Critical and Historical Studies Symposium - Selected Research - Royal College of Art - Online

• 2020: London Craft Week - ‘A Celebration of Craftsmanship from Wales with First of March’ - Speaker, Online

• 2020: Maker in Focus - Craft in the Bay, Cardiff (Postponed)

• 2019: The London Artisan - Brick Lane, London

• 2019: Festival of Natural Fibres - Guest Panelist - Craft Central, London

• 2019: Craft Festival - Curated by Jwrnal Wales - Cardiff

• 2018: First of March - Luxury Welsh Craftsmanship (Ongoing Representation)

• 2018: The Oasis - Curated by Artisan and Fox - Brick Lane, London

• 2018: Handmade in Britain - Selected by ‘Curated by Dan Goode’ - Chelsea, London

• 2018: Rooted in Practice - Curated by Laura Thomas - Craft in the Bay, Cardiff

• 2017: Makers Guild in Wales - Craft in the Bay, Cardiff

• 2017: Handmade in Britain - Chelsea, London

• 2016: Handmade in Britain - Chelsea, London

• 2016: One Year On New Designers - Islington, London

• 2016: ‘Spinexpo’ - Shanghai

• 2015: Winchester School of Art Graduate Show - Brick Lane, London

• 2015: Graduate Fashion Week - Truman Brewery, London

• 2015: The Textile Society Undergraduate Bursary Shortlist Exhibition - Manchester

Academic Experience:

• 2024 (Ongoing):
  Online Tutor - MA Sustainable Fashion, Falmouth University

• 2021 - 2023 (Ongoing):
  Visiting Lecturer - BA Fashion and Textiles, Winchester School of Art

• 2022: Guest Lecturer:
  Specialist Project Reviews - BA Constructed Textiles, Carmarthen School of Art 

• 2019 - 2023 (Ongoing):
  Associate Tutor/Lecturer - BA Textiles, BA Fine Art, School-wide research - Cardiff School of Art and Design

• 2017 - 2018:
  Associate Lecturer - BA Constructed Textiles, Carmarthen School of Art (Maternity Cover)

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