Sarah-Joy Ford
Dr Sarah-Joy Ford is an artist and independent scholar working with textiles to explore the complexities and pleasures of queer communities, histories and archives. Her practice sits at intersection of digital and traditional: using strategies of quilting, digital embroidery, digital print and hand embellishment. Her deep material investment in surface pattern design, and embellishment is part of my femme-ethical methodology that prioritises softness, emotionality, and aesthetic preoccupation.
She was the recipient of an NWDTCP award for her PhD research examining quilting as an affective methodology for re-visioning British lesbian archive, at Manchester School of Art. Solo exhibitions include RABBIT at Bury Art Museum 2024, HARE at Bobinska Brownlee Gallery 2023 (London), Looking for Lesbians at ONE Gallery 2022 (Los Angeles) and Beloved at Plas Newydd Historic House and Gardens 2022 (Llangollen). Her work has rbeen commissioned for A Tall Order at Touchstones Rochdale (2023); Un-Defining Queer at The Whitworth Manchester (2022) and Manchester Science Park, Bruntwood (2022-2023). Her work is held in numerous collections including The Whitworth, Manchester; The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, Soho House Global Art Collection and The ONE Archives, Los Angles. Her writing has been published in numerous publications including Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society, MAI: Feminist Visual Cultures, SOANYWAY and The Journal of Lesbian Studies. She is a member of Proximity collective and on the editorial board of the Journal of Lesbian Studies.
Her most recent solo show RABBIT runs from 18th May – 17th August 2024 at Bury Art Museum.
Education
2018 - 2023 PhD Art and Design | Manchester School of Art
2020 Associate Fellowship of the HEA
2017-2018 MA Textile Practice | Manchester School of Art, Distinction
2016-2017 The School of the Dammed |Year of the Monkey
2013-2014 Printmaking | The Hungarian University of Fine Art
2011-2015 BA Hons (Int) Fine Art | The University of Leeds, First Class
Solo and Duo Exhibitions
2024 RABBIT | Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Center
2023 HARE | Bobinska Brownlee Gallery, London
2022 Quilting the Lesbian Archive | K Haus, Manchester
2022 Looking for Lesbians | One Archives Gallery, West Hollywood, Los Angeles
2022 Beloved: crafting intimacies with the Ladies of Llangollen, Plas Newydd Historic House and Gardens
2021 Oranges are not the only fruit, Accrington Library, British Textile Biennale
2021 Archives and Amazons: a quilter’s guide to the lesbian archive | Granada Gallery HOME, Manchester
2021 Log Cabin | Digital Exhibition in Collaboration with Jordan Taylor, Commissioned by Superbia
2018 Hard Craft | Vane Gallery, Newcastle
2018 Queen | COLLAR, Manchester
Commissioned Artworks & Projects
2024 The Kiss | From the North , The Mollie's Manchester Art Collection.
2023 Embroidering Heritage Oral Histories | Elizabeth Gaskell House [Double Helix History Project, University of Manchester]
2023 The Fabric of Science and Technology [Site Specific Textile Installation] | BASE: Manchester Science Park, Bruntwood Sci Tech
2022 A Tall Order [Quilt]| Touchstones Rochdale
2022 Queering the Whitworth [Banner Quilt] | The Whitworth Manchester
2021 A Terrible Accident [Quilt] | Islington Mill Heritage Project
2021 Pandemic Diary | [Digital Project], Decorating Dissidence
2019 Log Cabin | [Digital Project] Superbia, Manchester
2019 Beyond the Binary [Quilt] | Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford
2016 Yorkshire Year of the Textiles [Installation]| Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds
Selected Community Co-Design & Collaborative Workshops
2023 Lesbian Textiles making party | Tate Modern
2023 LGBTQ Banner Making | Story House, Chester
2022 Feminist Banner Making with the Bronte Sisters | The Bronte Parsonage Museum
2022 Collaborative Banner Commission: Targeted Youth Support LGBT+ Group Banner Barnsley Civic
2022 Ladies of Llangollen: crafting identity workshop, Plas Newydd & St Collen’s Churches
2022 LGBTQ Mini Banner Making Workshop Series, The Whitworth, Manchester
2022 Aberrations LGBTQ Mini Banner Making Workshop, Aberystwyth Arts Center
2021 Oral History Pennants Workshop | Metro Woolwich Equality Community Hub & Bijou Stories
2019 Collaborative Banner Commission: Women’s March Banner Making, Loughborough Arts.
2019 Workshop: There is no place like home, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
2019 Workshop: Lesbian History Miniature Banners, L Fest
2018 Collaborative Banner Commission: Processions: 100 years of suffrage [Banner] Artichoke Productions
2018 Collaborative Banner Commission: Rebel Girls Banner, Art School for Rebel Girls. Pavilion, Leeds
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 Tangled Threads | Sunny Bank Mills, Yorkshire [forthcoming]
2024 Ultra Violet | Guts Gallery, London [forthcoming]
2024 Manchester Open Exhibition | HOME
2023 Islington Mill 100 Years in the Making | Salford Museum & Art Gallery
2023 Wink, Wink | The Whittaker
2023 A Tall Order | Touchstones, Rochdale
2023 (Un) Defining Queer | The Whitworth, Manchester
2022 Archives at Play | Castlefield Gallery
2021 Rebel Dykes | Golden Thread Gallery, Outburst Festival, Belfast
2021 Change Everything | Depot, London
2021 Proximity | Abingdon Project space, Blackpool
2021 Rebel Dykes Art and Archive Exhibition, Space Station Sixty Five, London
2021 Janome Fine Art Textiles Award Finalists Exhibition | The International Festival of Quilts & Knit and Stitch Show London / Harrogate
2021 Women Making History, Scottish House in London
2021 Beyond the Binary | The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford
2020 Manchester Open Exhibition | HOME, Manchester
2019 Proximity | Paradise Works, Manchester
2019 Weave it | Sour Space, London
2019 This way up | The Wrong Biennale
2019 Banner Culture | The British Textile Biennale, Brierfield Mill
2018 Strange Perfume | South London Gallery
2017 Weaving Europe | Shelly House, Paphos, Cyprus
2017 Superyonic | Copeland Gallery, London
2017 Wish you were here, Stryx Gallery, Birmingham
2017 100% Absolutely Genuine Certified Degree Show | The Royal Standard, Liverpool & Set Space, London
2016 Lives, Love and Loss: Traces | Fenton House National Trust, London
2016The etiquette required for keeping still is similar to playing dead| Stanley Audrey Burton Gallery, Leeds
2016 Ebc006 Exhibition | East Bristol Contemporary Gallery, Bristol
2016 SNAKE/HORSE/GOAT/MONKEY | Guest Projects, London
Grants and Awards
2023 National Lottery Project Grant | Arts Council England, [RABBIT]
2022 Develop Your Creative Practice Grant | Arts Council England
2022 Emerging Artist Award | Cheshire Life Magazine, Cheshire Art Fair
2022 PhD Partner Placement Funding & Residency | NWCTDP, AHRC [ONE Archives, USC]
2022 PhD Partner Placement Funding & Residency | NWCTDP, AHRC [Plas Newydd]
2021 Short List | Janome Fine Art Textile Award, The Quilt Festival
2020 Artist Bursary | Curator Space
2020 Greater Manchester LGBTQ artist programme Project Funding | Superbia
2020 Cohort Development Fund | NWCTDP, AHRC [Queer Research Network]
2019 Explore and Develop Award | HOME, Manchester
2019 Cohort Development Fund | NWCTDP, AHRC [Proximity]
2019 PAHC Student Initiatives Fund | [Queer Research Network]
2018 National Lottery Project Grant | Arts Council England (Hard Craft)
2018 Full PhD Scholarship: North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership Award| AHRC
2017 National Lottery Project Grant | Arts Council England (Cut Cloth: contemporary textiles and feminism)
2015 Artist development award | Yorkshire Visual Arts Network
2015 Berkofsky Arts Award | Leeds University
2014 Santander Research Award | Study abroad research awards, Leeds University
2014 Leeds for Life Foundation Grant | Leeds University Union
Selected Curatorial Projects
2017 Cut Cloth: Contemporary Textiles and Feminism | The Portico Library, Manchester
2015 Paste | Public poster exhibition, Leeds
2015 The Guild | Temple Works, Leeds
2014 Pretty Vacant | Contemporary Architecture Institute, Budapest
2015 Leeds Inspired Funded Project: Paste | Public poster exhibition, Leeds
Residencies
2022 Artist in Residence | ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries (upcoming)
2022 Artist in Residence | Plas Newydd Historic House and Gardens, Llangollen
2021 The Coast is Queer Artist Residency | UKNA & Abingdon Studios
2020 Image Maker in Residence | The Sociological Review
2019 Proximity Residency | Paradise Works, Manchester
2019 Proximity Residency | Islington Mill, Manchester
2018 Artist in Residence | Strange Perfume, Chetham’s Library, Manchester
2016 SOTD Group Residency | New Bridge Gallery and Studios, New Castle
2016 SOTD Group Residency | Hotel Elephant, Leeds
2013 Summer Artist Residency | Larnaca College of Art, Cyprus
2011 Young Artists In Tuscany Residential | Contemporary Arts Space Chester, Italy
Permeant Collections
The Mollie’s Manchester Art Collection
Soho House Global Art Collection
The Whitworth, Manchester
The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford
The ONE Archives, Los Angles
The V&A [Artist Book collection], London
The Bishopsgate Institute, London
Selected Lectures, Talks and Conference Papers
2024 Quilting Lesbian Domesticities, Threads Festival, Sunny Bank Mills
2024 The Art of Pleasure, Mental Health series, Axis
2023 Dreaming up the past | Aberystwyth Arts Center
2023 Beloved & Chase of the Wild Goose | Bookbag, Exeter
2022 Guest Artist Talk | Artist Union England
2021 Gust Lecturer: Textiles in Sculpture Workshop | The University of Leeds
2021 Guest Artist Lecture | Blackpool School of the Arts
2021 Chair | A Not Un Ruffled Surface: Contemporary Sculpture and Dress, Henry Moore Institute
2020 Textiles for our futures (co-authored with Alice Kettle & Mary Stark) | Textile for Future International Conference, Academy of Arts Kaunus
2020 The Lesbian Quilt Manifesto | Global New Voices, Association for Art History’s DECR
2020 Rebel Dykes and Arrow Heads: quilting in the Pitt Pivers museum | Textile Society of America’s 17th Biennial Symposium
2019 Queering Quilting | Queering Memory ALMS Conference, Berlin
2019 Queering Suffrage | Lesbian Lives Conference, University of Brighton
2018 Queer Quilts: Toward an exhibitionist domesticity |Textiles and Place Conference, MMU
2018 Quilting the Archive: Patch working Lesbian Lives | Life on the Outskirts Conference, MMU
2016 Visiting Artist Talk | SEIZE PROJECTS, Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies, University of Leeds
2016 Panel Member | Education: finding an alternative, Art Licks Festival, London
2016 Panel Member | Dark Matter Symposium, The Royal Standard, Liverpool
2016 Panel Member | Uncovering the Marshalls, The University of Leeds
2016 Panel Member | Anti University Summit, Guest Projects, London
2014 Guest Speaker | Contemporary Architecture Institute, Budapest
Employment, Boards, Directorships
2023 Editorial Board | Journal of Lesbian Studies, Taylor & Francis
2021-2022 Associate Lecturer | Body Sexuality and Culture Unit, Sociology, Manchester Metropolitan University
2020 Committee Member | Equality and Representation, The Portico Library, Manchester
2019-2021 Associate Lecturer | Contextualizing Practice Units, Manchester School of Art
2019 to present Harts online Editorial Assistant, Post Graduate Arts and Humanities, MMU
2018 to present Member | Proximity: practice led research collective
2018 to present Co-director | Queer Research Network Manchester
2013 - 2018 present Co-director, Seize Projects, Leeds
2014 – 2015 Gallery Assistant | &Model Gallery, Leeds
Publications
2024 Archives and Amazons, The Journal of Lesbian Studies: Special Issue on Amazons
2024 Beloved: crafting intimacies with the Ladies of Llangollen, Queering Desire: Lesbians, Gender and Subjectivity, Routledge
2024 Queer Archives | co-authored with Ajamu X, (Un) Defining Queer: Queering the Constituent Museum, The Whitworth
2023 Quilting Intergenerational Intimacies in Fisch’s Rebel Dyke Archive, Crafted with Pride: Queer Craft and Activism in Contemporary Britain, Intellect Books
2022 Touching the Archive | Soanyway, Volume 2 issue 12
2021 In the Mud: Lesbian Trauma and the Reparative Quilt in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Psychoanalysis, Culture and Society, Palgrave
2021 Queering Suffrage: Embroidering the Lesbian Life of Vera Holme, MAI: Feminism and Visual Culture, Special Issue on Craft
2020 Practice-Based: Quilting the Lesbian Archive, Decorating Dissidence, Special Issue on Queer Craft
2017 Cut Cloth: contemporary textiles and feminism | PO Publishing, Leeds (Editor)
Forthcoming Publications
2023: Queer Quilts: LGBTQ+ Mourning, Identity Formation and Kinship Building through Quilting, Encyclopedia of World Textiles, Politics and Power volume, Bloomsbury
