Alice Kettle

Alice Kettle is a contemporary textile/fibre artist who has established a unique area of practice. Her huge figurative stitched works, exploit the textures and effects made possible through the harnessing of a mechanical process to intuitive, conceptual and creative ends. She spends many months making a single stitched work using as her subject matter a mix of stories which collide the autobiographical, contemporary events, folklore and mythology. The figures stand in landscapes of tiny stitches which make swathes of rich mesmeric colour across the textured surface and capture the light in the variety of threads. Made with free machine embroidery the needle is like a drawing tool, describing the challenges and ambitions of the human condition. She draws references from the history of figurative textiles and monumental narrative tapestry.  In Kettle’s narratives these allusions tell of her own encounters, of transformative experiences and the continual process of growth, renewal, change, decay, and the counterpoints of tragedy and hope.  Her approach is immersed in the relationship we as humans have with nature, the world and each other. “We are part of the material world as physical beings” she says “… implicated in a generative cycle of relationships”.
 
Her work is represented in various international public collections including the Crafts Council, the Whitworth Manchester, Liverpool International Slavery Museum, Museum of Decorative Art and Design, Riga, Latvia, Ararat Art Gallery Australia, the Belger Collection, Kansas City USA. Her major exhibition Thread Bearing Witness 2019 at the Whitworth Art Gallery used stitch to address issues of migration and people displacement. She co-curated Fabric; Cloth and Identity at Compton Verney Art Gallery (2019), Threads-Breathing Stories into Materials at the Arnolfini in Bristol (2023) Soft Power, lives told through Textile Art at the RWA Bristol (2025). She received the Brookfield Properties/Crafts Council award with accompanying exhibition To Boldy Sew (2023) for her international contribution to material/craft practice. She is professor of Textile Arts at Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University and has co-authored various publications including Machine Stitch Perspectives, Hand Stitch Perspectives, Collaboration through Craft, The Erotic Cloth and Reading the Thread – Cloth and Communication with Bloomsbury.

She is represented in the UK by Bo Lee and Workman

Knot 2025
Various threads on Linen
204 x 262cm
Courtesy of Bo Lee and Workman. Photography by Dave Watts.

Kingmakers 2025 
Thread on Linen
170 x 135 cm
Photo: Jesse Wild

Thread Bearing Witness project (2017- ongoing)
Installation at The Whitworth, Manchester 2018-19
GROUND, SEA, SKY, (each 3m  x 8m ) MOON
Various threads on printed polycotton canvas

GROUND, 2018 (one of three works, Ground, Sea and Sky) 
Thread Bearing Witness project 
Alice Kettle with contributions from Pipka/Lesvos Solidarity, Ahmad Ali, Somaya Hossaini, Yakob & many other residents at Calais refugee camp working with Suzanne Partridge; Nahomie Bukasa, Sahira Khan and Ai Ling with Linda Leroy at the Helen Bamber Foundation; Nisrin Albyrouty, Khouloud Alkurd, Heba Almnini, Heidi Ambruster, Marwa Ammar, Amal Ayoubi, Stella Charman, Susan Colverson, Jenny Cuffe, Lama Hamami, Miriam Jones, Asmaa, Ruth le Mesurier, Vanessa Rolf, Samar Sobeih, Chaymae Yousfi & many children from English Chat Winchester; Farhia Ahmed Ali, Nawad Hersi Duale, Amran Mohamud Ismail with Refugee Action working with artists Jenny Eden and Richard Harris; Julie Firman, Victoria Hartley, Louise Jung, Susan Kamara, Sam.
Stitch and life jacket material on printed canvas 8x3m
Photo: Michael Pollard.

Together 2025
Alice Kettle and Friends 
Various threads on printed eco cotton drill
 
Together was inspired and co-produced by the people who have contributed drawings of themselves, friends and/or family to be stitched into this work.  
This vast banner symbolizes unity - built not by one, but by many. Each portrait reflects a personal story, coming together to form a vibrant embroidery. I created a background which I stitched from the reverse and then populated it, seeking to honour how people see themselves and the richness of the wider community. 
Stitched freely across the fabric by Kettle, the drawings find new companions and create unexpected visual communities. The varied placement, colours, and scales reflect the organic, creative spirit of co-creation. Together expresses belonging, shaped through the power and desire to connect with each other. 
 Photo: Jo Hounsome

Blue 2023
Thread on linen
44 x 37 cm

Portrait Jesse Wild