Alice Kettle

Born in Winchester in 1961, Alice Kettle studied fine art at the University of Reading (1979-1984) before completing a postgraduate diploma in textiles at Goldsmiths College, London (1985-1986). Kettle has been instrumental in championing textiles as an art form, and is known for her monumental embroidery works exploring themes of cultural heritage, journeying, and the human experience. The scale of her work belies the intricacy of the tiny stitches that make up the great swathes of rich colour and painterly figuration that characterise her pieces, achieved through a combination of mechanical and hand stitching. ‘We are part of the material world as physical beings’, she says, ‘implicated in a generative cycle of relationships’. In 1988, Kettle was awarded the Taittinger Prize, and the British Council Award. Since then she has achieved numerous accolades, including being made Professor in Textile Arts at the Manchester School of Art. Her work is exhibited internationally and represented in many notable collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Manchester City Art Gallery and the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester, and Winchester Cathedral. Kettle lives and works in Somerset.