Susie Freeman

Using a knitted pocket structure, I trap tiny objects in a delicate web of monofilament. Since winning a 1998 Sciart Award I have worked with GP Liz Lee making artworks illustrating medical issues. Pharmacopoeia made ‘Cradle to Grave’ in 2003 for The British Museum. It has three linked narratives; a ‘pill’ diary, objects, documents and personal photographs. The pocket knitted pill story incorporates all the estimated prescription drugs an average man and woman might take in a lifetime for common illnesses. Researching HIV/AIDS resulted in ‘Table Talk’ first shown at ARTAID 2005 and in 2006 we ran art workshops at Pentonville Prison themed to a version of Cradle to Grave in the prison chapel. Projects in 2007 include a piece about obesity for Sustrans and the recently completed ‘Veil of Tears’ for The Wellcome Collection.

Born 1956 London

Education 
BA Hons 1st class Textiles/Fashion Manchester Metropolitan University
MA RCA Textiles Royal College of Art London

Awards
2004 Arts Council Research Grant for SLIM – HIV/Aids in the UK
2000 Medicine in Society – Pharmacopoeia touring
 exhibition
1998 Sciart Wellcome Trust – Inside Out / Pharmacopoeia

Recent exhibitions
2007-08 ‘Medical Mesh’ Museum of Decorative Arts, Bergen, Norway
2007 ‘Schmerz’ Hamburger Bahnhof Contemporary Art, Berlin
2006 ‘A.N.Other’ Pentonville Prison Chapel, London
2005 ‘Artwear’ Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, USA
 

Commissions
2007 Veil of Tears (Malaria) Wellcome Collection
2005 Arthritis Pieces – John Charnley Trust
2003 Cradle to Grave – The British Museum

Public Collections
Wellcome Collection, The British Museum, The V&A, British Council, Crafts Council, Geffrye Museum, Whitworth Art Gallery, British Council, Kwangju Textile Museum South Korea, Wrightington Hospital Wigan