About
Frances Priest is an Edinburgh-based artist & designer with a specialism in ceramics spanning art, design, and craft. A pattern obsessive and lover of colour, her work plays with cultural histories of ornament through studio ceramics and installations in the built environment. Central to the work is an interest in pattern books as a means of documenting and disseminating languages of ornament, reflecting upon the ever-changing interpretations of ornamental motifs as they move between drawing and material form.
Over the past twenty-five years, Frances has developed an internationally recognised studio practice, represented in private and public collections including, The National Museum of Scotland, The Fitzwilliam Museum, and The Victoria & Albert Museum. Public commissions include, Imbrication for Music Hall Aberdeen and New Media Scotland, The Tiled Corridor for The Royal Edinburgh Hospital and NHS Lothian Charity, and Patterns of Flora for Raasay House and Atlas Arts. Her work has featured in biennials and awards including, European Ceramic Context, The British Ceramics Biennale, The Wesley Barrell Craft Award, Homo Faber, and The John Smedley Craft Prize. Frances is a Homo Faber selected maker, QEST Scholar, and Member of the Royal Society of Sculptors. Studio work is represented by Cavaliero Finn, London, and &Gallery, Edinburgh.