Dr Sequoia Barnes : ESW Fellow 2023-24

We are delighted to announce that artist and academic Dr Sequioa Barnes will be our inaugural ESW Fellow, working at ESW and on our engagement programmes over the next 18 months.

This is a research and development project that supports Barnes in the development of her practice. Over the next 18 months she will research and develop her ceramic work and connect with and share her knowledge with ESW’s staff team, and with communities through our learning programme. Barnes’ material focus during this time will be on glazing chemistry, working at scale and bringing the textile and ceramic parts of their practice together. ESW will host an exhibition of the work Sequoia produces during her fellowship in 2024.

Sequoia Barnes is a textile/mixed media artist, potter and art and design scholar. Her textile work is informed by her research-led exploration of black radical art practice, the creative practice of subverting white supremacy through the (semiotic) deconstruction of black diasporic representation and symbolisms transatlantically. Her work is also centred around the importance of making processes, rituals, and modes of fashioning; the creation of ‘art’ as equally important as the resulting object.

Based in Edinburgh since 2017, Barnes received her PhD in Design from Edinburgh College of Art at the University of Edinburgh. She also holds a MA in History of Design and Material Culture from the University of Brighton, a MS in Fashion Studies with certification in museum studies from the University of Delaware, and a BA in Studio Art (ceramic sculpture) with a minor in professional writing from Spring Hill College. Her artwork has been shown in the Edinburgh Art Festival, the Fruitmarket and Tramway-Glasgow.

You can read more about Barnes’ work on their website.

We are very grateful to Culture Edinburgh of City of Edinburgh Council for the support of this project.

Images: Sequoia Barnes recent work.

Three ceramic sculptures in deep green, blue and darker glaze on a textile mat, viewed from above.
Three ceramic sculptures in deep white, green and darker glaze on a textile mat, viewed from above.