Frances Priest is a pattern obsessive and lover of colour, making work that explores cultural histories and narratives associated with ornamental motifs and patterns.
Over the past 20 years she has developed a studio ceramic practice, and she enjoys the movement between her solitary studio practice and working collaboratively on commissions in the built environment. Ideas cross pollinate, and the boundaries between art, craft and design are pleasingly malleable. She has expanded her practice into large-scale ceramic tile works, developing commissions for private clients and projects in the public realm.
Languages of ornament form the building blocks of her work. The process by which a pattern is constructed endlessly fascinates her, even soothing, as gestures of making and material build up to create a whole. Motifs seem fugitive to her, always on the move, popping up in different forms and in different places
Trained in ceramics at Edinburgh College of Art, Priest is based in Edinburgh, where she lives and works. Her work is held in international private collections and UK public collections, including, The National Museum of Scotland, The Fitzwilliam Museum, and The Victoria & Albert Museum. Her work has been represented in biennials and awards including, European Ceramic Context, Wesley Barrell Craft Award, British Ceramics Biennale, John Smedley Craft Prize, and the inaugural Homo Faber. In 2021 Frances received a QEST Johnnie Walker Scholarship to develop skills in traditional tile manufacturing techniques with Craven Dunnill Jackfield. Frances is a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors and an ambassador for QEST.