Su France Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
Residing in rural Lincolnshire, my practice explores nature's impermanence through a contemporary lens. I'm inspired by decay and weathered objects. Like kintsugi, I capture nature's flaws and renewal. I stitch printed pieces with gold/linen thread, creating invisible mends. I handcraft textured earth-toned surfaces referencing local fields and our precious land.
Su is a Lincolnshire artist – using print and textiles to convey calming, grounding meaningful pieces. She works from her home studio, which is on an arable farm, where she grows, and presses may of the botanicals used in her prints and linens.
Su France’s prints capture her ongoing engagement with natural landscapes, and she uses texture, form, and botanical elements to explore printmaking techniques. Inspired by cycles of decay, weathered objects and meaningful narratives, she aims to capture nature’s ephemeral beauty. Su depicts treasured woodland discoveries - weathered nests, stones sea tumbled smooth. She prints delicate wildflowers -using a labour-intensive process that renders each tiny detail. Beyond flora, her prints also explore quietly resonant scenes of barns illuminated by tales within.
Su also employs kintsugi’s metaphor of precious imperfection. The natural elements give her work a sense of warmth, while the muted palette promotes a sense of calm. Using a variety of media, Su hand creates textures that provide depth, visual stimulus and shows her skill in describing 3D elements in 2D form. She has been developing methods in texture creation for her plates over the last two years, experimenting with different materials, all linked to a desire to make her mark, without leaving a mark on the environment. She attained an Arts Council England DYCP grant in 2022 to explore this further and so now produces a range of work from solar plates to collagraph and intaglio using the botanical material itself to create intricate impressions, whilst remaining true to her wish to reduce environmental impact.
Within stitched works on paper, she uses 24ct gold or linen thread to stitch across printed pieces, utilising a similar hue to lightly textured printmaking paper, creating an almost invisible, hidden mend. The gold stitching and leaves adorning my earth pigment pieces invite viewers to ponder what is truly precious. While gold holds inherent value, her current work aims to express the importance of restorative farming practices for the first six inches of soil. She says: ‘I believe we must work harmoniously with the land, mitigating human needs alongside the species we share this earth with.’ Su handcrafts textured surfaces on paper and linen using earth-muted tones, narrating a symbolic resonance with the terrain around her. Su’s stitched earth pigment pieces reference the crops and animal tracks etched into the local farm fields, this having a nod to the boro mend. Su also employs laid, couched vintage threads - some originally used by bookbinders or Japanese embroiderers - to depict rain, horizons, crop marks, and impressions at field edges. For her earth pigment work on linen, she uses soya pigments, aligning with her motto: "make a mark and note the mark you make." This approach fosters sustainability while allowing Su to focus intently on the quality of each impactful line.’ Su is an accomplished artist with memberships in several prestigious organisations. She belongs to Design Nation, a collective of contemporary craft and product designers. Additionally, she is a member of the Visual Arts Association (VAA) and her affiliations also include a-n, as well as the Guild of British Jewellery Designers and Artcan. In 2023 Su was asked to demonstrate her printmaking skills at the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair. Su's artwork is highly sought after, with her pieces available for purchase through a variety of outlets, selling nationally and internationally. Galleries, shops, interior designers, and online spaces proudly showcase and sell her work to collectors and art enthusiasts alike.
