Suzanna James (b. 1992, she/her) is an artist, writer and educator. She graduated with a double-scholarship MA award as a QEST Craft Scholar in Textiles from the Royal College of Art, London in 2022. Her practice works in response to the words of Louise Bourgeois; “the needle is used to repair damage, its claim to forgiveness” and foregrounds a care-led and socially engaged textiles practice working with regenerative materials entitled ‘Caring Cloth’. She was selected as the RCA Research Symposium Textiles Candidate in 2021, an Artistic Research Fellow at KMD Bergen, Norway, in 2024, a New Professional Awardee and research presenter of the Textile Society of America in 2024, winner of the Wynn Newhouse award in 2025, and a selected presenter at the Artistic Research Circle of the Nordic Summer University, University of Gothenburg, 2026. Suzanna is a September ‘26 postgraduate researcher for PhD Candidature at the School of Arts and Humanities, Royal College of Art, London and a lecturer on the MA Crafts & Material Practices programme at Arts University Plymouth. She is a current studio holder at Cockpit Arts Bloomsbury.

She has also been the recipient of the 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 Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters MA award and a runner up, shortlisted candidate, finalist and nominated graduate of several additional 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 has an interdisciplinary practice at the meeting place of making and writing.

Awards/Scholarships:

• 2026: The Wynn Newhouse Award (Awardee)

• 2025: The Wynn Newhouse Award (Shortlist)

• 2025: The Broderers’ Award - Cockpit Arts - Shortlist

• 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

• 2025: Collect, Somerset House, London - Represented by First of March

• 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