Susan Lick, Artist

Susan Lick: Playful & Practical Fabric Creations

March-April, 2026 EXHIBIT DESCRIPTION

A sewist since the age of eight, Susan Lick plays with fabric for fun and function. She loves designing with Japanese textiles, piecing Marimekko remnants, marrying art deco and art nouveau sensibilities, going beyond the frame. Her pieces highlight raw edges, selvedges, and relief, and they result in such quotidian objects as placemats, wall hangings, totes, and treasure bags.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Credo of a Sewist:

I use the term sewist. Many of us who make things with fabric and thread call ourselves a sewist. For me, it avoids the waste management meaning of the word “sewer.” It uses the suffix -ist for a practitioner, an adherent, an operator, as in: artist, Buddhist, motorist, dentist, violinist. And it avoids gendered terms.

Recycling/Reusing/Upcycling is good.

To quote Valerie Reinke, “There is a false distinction between craft and art.”
“Function” in this display refers to the fact that most of my sewing has a useful place in my home. The pieces have been washed and dried and used again and again. The wall hangings, of course, are essentially decorative but also allow me the Fabric Play I love.

— Susan Lick