Search
 

Artist Bio & CV for Suzette Knight

Artist Bio

Suzette completed a BA honours degree at Central St Martins in London, and her master’s degree at Staffordshire University in Stoke, both in Ceramic Design.

Here, Suzette had the opportunity to experiment with a variety of ceramics techniques, and found herself specialising in shape design, examining both the form and function of utilitarian vessels. The focus was very much on the aesthetic and functional techniques, rather than the surface areas, which, interestingly has now become more of a focus in her current work.

Following her education, Suzette transferred her ceramic skills over to a career in prosthetics, where she spent over ten years as a silicone artist sculpting realistic prosthetic limbs. Incredible attention detail was required, as well as strong dexterity skills.  Suzette commonly used her problem-solving abilities to ensure the prosthesis were both functional and aesthetically accurate.

Suzette hugely enjoyed the rewarding nature of the prosthetics work, but as is often the case, life had other plans, and following a physical injury, Suzette was forced to slow down and reassess what was important in her life. She found herself gravitating back towards ceramics, where the freedom to explore her creativity supported her recovery and provided her with a safe space to rebuild heal. During this reflective time in her life, Suzette returned to a previous curiosity in abandoned buildings and decaying surfaces, she is interested in how they echo the human experience of both abandonment and the physical and emotional scars that we carry with us.

Suzette now teaches regular weekly pottery classes and makes her own work which she has exhibited at Art in Clay Hatfield, Art in Clay Farnham, and at Earth and Fire Ceramics Festival.

 

Suzette spends most of her life living on the south coast of England, in the Bournemouth area.

Education & Exhibitions

Education:

  • 1999-2001: MA Ceramic Design. Staffordshire University.
  • 1996-1999: BA(Hons) Ceramic Design. Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.

Employment Experience:

  • 2015- 2017. Pottery Instructor at The Stables Family Home Trust. Working with vulnerable adults with learning disabilities. As well as supporting our clients, my duties included the running of the pottery.
  • 2004-2015. Prosthetic Silicone Technician at Dorset Orthopaedic. Producing bespoke hand sculpted lifelike prosthetic limbs. Part of my role was to see patients at our partner clinics. These included clinics in Athens, Paris, New York and Norway.

Skills:

I use many different techniques to make my pots. My education in ceramics consisted of a multitude of modelling techniques, mould making and slip casting. My post education has consisted of learning hand building and throwing techniques.

I draw from all of these experiences to create the objects that I wish to make.

 

Gallery Representation 

The Crafts Centre and Design Gallery Leeds.

The Creative Gallery  November – December 2019

Exhibitions and Events

2020:

  • Digital Craft Festival. November 27th-29th.
  • Southcoast Makers Market- Online event- Nov 7th
  • Artisans’ Bazaar – The Gallery by the Lakes- Dorchester. November-December 24th. Now online via their Shop.
  • Dorset Arts Festival- Sculpture By The Lakes, Dorchester. 3rd-5th July.

2019:

2018:

  • Art in Clay, Farnham. 17th-18th November 2018.
  • Art in Clay, Hatfield House. 16ty-18th August 2018.
  • Dorset Art Weeks, with Sculpture By The Lakes. 2018
  • Handmade Wimborne. 2018
  • BEAF, Bournemouth Emerging arts fringe. Woodside Studios, Southbourne.
  • Pots in the park, group exhibition with The a East Dorset Potters, at Shelly Park.
  • Handmade Wimborne, Christmas Market.

2017:

  • Inside Art, open studio event. Woodside Studios, Southbourne. 6-7 may 2017.
  • Across the borders, Ilminster  Art Centre, joint exhibition with The East Dorset Potters. 5 May-12June 2017.

2016:

  • Inside Art, Open Studios event. Woodside Studios, Southbourne. August 2016
  • Pots to Palettes, The gallery upstairs, Upton house, Poole. August 2016.

2015:

  • Guest potter at The Creative Gallery, Wareham. December 2015
  • ‘Emerge’, L’artishe Gallery, Swanage. February 2015

‘Drawn to Clay’. Highcliffe Castle, Christchurch. Joint exhibition with        The East Dorset Potters.

  • Dorset Art Weeks, open studios.

2001:

  • New Designers, London
  • Masters degree Exhibition. Staffordshire university.

1999:

  • New Designers, London
  • Degree show. Central Saint Martins.