My practice combines early childhood experiences of domestic textiles and home sewing, with my formal fine art education. It was during my BA in Painting, at Ravensbourne College of Art, that postwar British abstraction and Abstract Expressionism became defining influences.

My work explores what it is to have a material practice in a time of climate change, stemming from an early exposure to the thrift and resourcefulness of my grandmothers’ creative work around the home. Early childhood travel and living overseas with my parents, brought experiences of new environments, landscapes, material cultures, pattern, light and colour to my visual development. Alongside the positive experiences of travel, there was the chaos of my early childhood which has impacted my creative identity. I am interested in repair and re-making, comfort, and what is home. Objects and making, and the meaning of  ‘progress’ for humanity and the natural world is a concern.

Resisting disciplinary hierarchies and ascribing new value to ‘throwaway’ scraps, I construct artworks using screen and mono print, embroidery and needlework techniques. Through these materials I explore the formal qualities of abstraction in response to everyday life. Textile exists as both form and content in my work. Underpinning my process are considerations of the qualities and memories of everyday material, sustainability, textile waste, and the significance of textiles in relation to; body, home, and the environment. Recent works have included elements of figuration and narrative, in a visual language that explores the relatedness of body and touch to navigating the world.

I rely on chance in the making process, where the resulting works navigate the uncertainty and fragmentation of our existence, together with my personal compulsion to reconstitute and reclaim.

©maxinesutton 2025