About the artist

Susanna Clasby’s current work is inspired by mesmerizing, life affirming murmurations. The movement, rhythm and feeling of the ‘dance of the starlings’ captivates her. She visits beautiful RSPB Ham Wall and Shapwick Heath nature reserves regularly during winter to experience them. She feels that murmurations can be metaphors for life and by working with them she contemplates themes such as flow, complex simplicity, intuition, joy and survival.  

Susanna’s background as an illustrator influences how she works, drawing with stitch from sketch to refined piece. She currently uses paper rather than fabric as the base, creating pieces that are equivalent to fine art prints, produced in small editions. How the embroidery sits on the paper, the perforations made by the needle as well as the palette of the paper and thread, all play their part.



The first murmuration pieces were exhibited in October 2023, two were shortlisted for the Royal Academy summer exhibition 2024, Murmuration 16a was selected for the RWA Annual Open 2024 and Dancing was selected for the RWA Paper Works Biennial 2025. 
Susanna studied history at Balliol College Oxford then worked in design and marketing in London and Bristol, before retraining as an Illustrator at the University of the West of England (UWE). She has taught digital embroidery part time at UWE since 2012 and has been making her own fine art embroideries for the past few years.