Anna Sutton: Spectrum Chequer

Ann Sutton OBE (b. 1935)

Ann Sutton is a ground-breaking British artist who has spent over six decades dismantling the traditional boundaries between craft, textiles, and fine art. Deeply influenced by Bauhaus principles and constructivist logic, her practice is anchored in the structural geometry of the grid.

Sutton is celebrated for her radical, systemic approach to construction. Her early innovations pioneered the use of computer-aided looms, while her later work expanded into spatial, three-dimensional "drawings" using paint, wire, Perspex, and nylon mesh. By elevating humble, everyday materials, she transforms rigid structural rules into a playful, luminous exploration of colour, scale, and light.

In 2026, Sutton was awarded the Worshipful Company of Weavers Silver Medal for outstanding contribution to the textile industry, and was awarded an OBE in 2022 for Services to the Arts. That year a documentary film My Bones Are Woven, directed by Jane Mote and Joshua Kershaw, was screened by the British Library.