Suzanne Tick provides an intelligent perspective and conviction to the ever-evolving art and
design industry. A fourth generation recycler, Tick’s life work is centered around up-cycling raw materials and reinventing manufacturing methods. Her textile alchemy is an effortless union between age-old weaving techniques and the latest technologies of creating new fiber systems and dye and color blends, solidifying her as a master of her craft.
From the beginning, Tick spent summers in her father’s scrap recycling yard sorting metals and exploring the possibilities in the cast-offs of rural life. At the University of Iowa, Tick began as a printmaker, etching fabric and texture onto copper plates. Aside with making the paper in which she etched. She left as a weaver, combining materials both hard and soft.
Tick’s life and art have always been a narration of balance and her woven works harness the struggles of life, resulting in textiles that are both delicate and strong. She investigates found materials. As Tick states, “in today’s environment both physical and spiritual, my work explores the narrative of bringing past to the present from my archival etchings to a series of studies from a 200 year old Torah from France that was kept from discarding.”
Further work using Woven Mylar Balloons (found on the beach in Fire Island) exploring through the use of color, texture and patterning. These works speak to the political climate we live in as well as the actual changes in the climate we are observing every day.
Innovation through transformation of refuse materials into woven sculptures with deep
personal meaning is at the crux of the work. Connecting all work from how we feel inside to how we express ourselves to the outside world.
Her work has been exhibited in MoMA, Cooper Hewitt, MAD and Art Basel, as well as collected by private and corporate clients. Suzanne’s TEDxNavesink Talk: “Weaving Trash Into Treasure” presents her unique and personal approach to hand weaving.
Tick holds a BFA from the University of Iowa and an AAS from the Fashion Institute of
Technology. Tick was the former Creative Director of KnollTextiles from 1997 – 2005. Tick is the founder of Suzanne Tick Inc., specializing in material brand strategy, product design, development, and direction for commercial interiors. Tick is currently Creative Director for Luum and Design Partner for Skyline Design.
