Suzanne Tick

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Suzanne Tick
Suzanne Tick Photo by Martin Crook.png
Born1959 (age 6566)
Alma mater Fashion Institute of Technology
University of Iowa
Website suzannetick.com

Suzanne Tick (born 1959) [1] is an American textile artist and designer. She is recognized for her recycled textiles and low-waste designs in woven and 3D knitted fabric. [2] She has developed glass, floor coverings, upholstery, and wallpaper products for the architecture and interiors industry. [3] Her work is informed by nature, technology, craft, and human ingenuity. Tick is based in New York City. [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Suzanne Tick was born in Bloomington, Illinois in 1959. Her father was a third-generation recycler and ran The Morris Tick Co. [5] "There was no question that was my trajectory," she has said. "There was always clay. I had a welder by the time I was 12." [6]

She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Iowa [7] and an Associate Degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology. [8]

Career

Suzanne Tick began her career working with American textile designer Boris Kroll. [9] Tick was the design director for textile brands such as Gieger (formerly Brickel) and Unika Vaev. [2] In 1995, Tick co-founded the Tuva Looms company. [2] In 1997, she founded Suzanne Tick Inc, a commercial textile design firm and personal weaving studio in East Village, Manhattan. [6]

She was creative director at KnollTextiles (1996–2005) and a contributing designer (2005–2010). She developed post-consumer fiber fabrics [10] and the first solution-dyed textile. [2] In collaboration with aerospace engineer Ray Goodson, Tick co-developed Imago, a resin-infused textile panel that embedded woven fabrics into PET translucent plastic. [7]

Tick served as the creative director at Luum Textiles (2012–2024). [11] She introduced biodegradable fibers into commercial fabrics. [12] As a partner of Skyline Design, she designed several etched-glass collections. [13] She was also the design director at Tarkett for commercial flooring and carpeting (2005–2024). [3]

Tick's work has appeared as part of exhibitions and festivals around the world. [14] She has received awards including the IIDA Titan Award (2013). [15] She was named an Honorary Fellow of the American Society of Interior Designers in 2022 [2] and was inducted into Interior Design's Hall of Fame in 2023. [11] Her work is part of museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, [2] Museum of Arts and Design. [2] [10]

Suzanne Tick retired from commercial work in 2024. In her art practice, she continues to weave with discarded materials. She also teaches Vedic meditation. [16]

Art practice

Tick's work emphasizes the transformation of materials. [17] In her artwork, Tick turns discarded materials into large-scale woven sculptures and conceptual textile installations that address memory, ritual, spirituality, and environmentalism. [2]

"Whether designing textiles or creating art, she begins with raw matter and builds from the fiber level up, believing the more you touch and work with a material, the more life and longevity the final piece gains." She builds architectural structures into textile and incorporates found and recycled materials...like dry cleaning hangers, mylar balloons, neon fiber, and fiber optics. [6]

"Weaving holds everything together, materials and life, successes and failures," she has said. She is currently represented by East Hampton, New York gallery Onna House. [18] She was previously represented by Cristina Grajales Gallery. [4]

Exhibitions

Awards

References

  1. "Suzanne Tick | Knoll". www.knoll.com. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Renzi, Words: Jen. "Suzanne Tick: 2023 Interior Design Hall of Fame Inductee". Interior Design. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  3. 1 2 Beall, Kelly (2019-09-20). "Friday Five with Suzanne Tick". Design Milk. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  4. 1 2 "Suzanne Tick". Cristina Grajales Gallery. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  5. History, Bill Kemp Archivist/Historian McLean County Museum of (2014-11-02). "Morris Tick embraced recycling before practice in vogue". pantagraph.com. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  6. 1 2 3 "Perfect foil: artist Suzanne Tick's new work is a tightly-woven wonder". Wallpaper*. 2016-05-19. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  7. 1 2 "The Thing Dynasty (Published 2000)". 2000-10-08. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  8. "Alumni of FIT < Fashion Institute of Technology". catalog.fitnyc.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  9. Makovsky, Paul. "Woven Histories: Contemplating the Legacy of Boris Kroll". Metropolis. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  10. 1 2 Konigsberg, Eric (2011-09-01). "AD Innovator: Suzanne Tick". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  11. 1 2 Staff, Words: Interior Design. "3 Hall Of Famers Talk Retirement And Hint At Next Steps". Interior Design. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  12. "I Can Weave with Anything | Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum". 2016-09-21. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  13. "Suzanne Tick Archives". Skyline. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  14. "Tarkett Designer Suzanne Tick at Venice Design | FLOOR Trends & Installation". www.floortrendsmag.com. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  15. 1 2 3 "IIDA Announces Suzanne Tick as 2013 Titan Award Recipient". I+S Design. 2013-05-03. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  16. Avery, Susan (2024-12-03). "Luum Textiles announces the retirement of Suzanne Tick, Creative Director of Luum Textiles - officeinsight" . Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  17. "An interview with Suzanne Tick". network.aia.org. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  18. "SUZANNE TICK". Onna House. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  19. "Golden Thread Two". BravinLee programs. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  20. Bernaudon, Victor (2023-10-25). "Textile Design Now / Design textile actuel". Centre de design de l'UQAM (in French). Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  21. "Textile TV". New York Textile Month. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  22. "2019 VENICE DESIGN". ecc-italy.eu. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  23. "» Material Meaning: A Living Legacy of Anni Albers". www.craftinamerica.org. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  24. Viladas, Pilar (2011-06-07). "Design Miami Preview | The Art of Recycling". T Magazine. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  25. "Weaving with light | Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum". 2015-05-01. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  26. "See Interior Design's 2023 Best of Year Awards Finalists". Interior Design. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  27. "American Society of Interior Designers | ASID". www.asid.org. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  28. Acosta, Estefanía. "#MetropolisLikes 2017 NeoCon Winners Announced!". Metropolis. Retrieved 2025-10-28.