Artist Statement

Kate Tume (b. 1980) works in textiles using hand techniques. Her work spans sculpture, performance and the magical object.

Exploring the question ‘what is sacred’, Tume’s work is ultimately memorial in nature – love made tangible and monumental. Bringing her identity as a widow to the centre as a continuous act of mourning made visible.

Her latest series of large needlepoint portals investigates the notion of a shroud and the transformation created by significant moments, and continues the project started with Death Masks (2022-25) in creating the regalia of grief and loss.

Selected CV

  • 2026 - For The Love of Textiles, group show, Sunnybank Mills, Leeds

    2024 - 1st place winner, Mr X Stitch Contemporary Needlework, 3D Textiles category

    2024, 22, 21, 20 – Finalist Mentor, Hand & Lock Prize for Embroidery

    2023 – 2nd Prize winner, Hand & Lock Prize for Embroidery & exhibition OMNI gallery, London and Harrogate Knitting & Stitching exhibition

    2023 – The Art of Women, group show Brush Gallery, Brighton

    2021– Moon, group show, Brush Gallery, Brighton

    2021– Hand & Lock Embroidered Arts Exhibition, OXO Bargehouse, London

    2020 – Pura Vida, group Show, Brush Gallery, Brighton

    2020 – Beyond Ruin, Remembrance Day For Lost Species Exhibition, artist and co-curator, ONCA Gallery, Brighton

    2020 – Third Kind Records, Bary Center ‘Guide Me Through The Hills Of Your Home’ album artwork

    2020 – Shortlisted for David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of The Year – third place winner People’s Choice Award

    2020, 22 – Artist in Residence, Mauser Foundation, Costa Rica

    2019 – Elephant, Group Show, Brush Gallery, Brighton

    2019 – International Contemporary Stitched Art Exhibition, Society For Embroidered Work, Clerkenwell Gallery, London (juried)

    2019 – #BeJane Exhibition and Auction for Jane Goodall Institute, Vienna (juried)

    2018 – Natural Fibres, solo show, Brush Gallery, Brighton

    2018 – Brighton Gin Art Prize, 2nd place winner, Brush Gallery, Brighton

    2017– Extinct Icons and Ritual Burials – part of Remembrance Day for Lost Species, ONCA, Brighton

    2017 – Third Kind Records, Embla Quickbeam/Graham Dunning ‘Inside Memory’s Head’ album artwork

    2017, 18, 19 – Artistic collaboration with Ellie Mac Embroidery, Limited Edition patch series

    2017 – Stitch-Up, Brush Gallery, Brighton

    2016 – Botanica, Light Grey Art Lab, Minneapolis

    2015 – Miniature Art Extravaganza, Ghost Gallery, Seattle

  • 2024 – Interview, NeedlXchange Podcast

    2023 – Embroidery Magazine, ‘Of Life & Death’, feature, Jan/Feb issue

    2021, 22 – TextileArtist.org, interview feature

    2021 – Panelist, Beyond Ruin: Meet the Artists, ONCA, as part of RDLS 2020

    2020 – The Art Of Mourning In The Anthropocene, part of ‘Mapping the Anthropocene in Ōtepoti/Dunedin’ symposium, featured artist.

    2020 – Interview, Stichery Stories podcast

    2020 – Interview, FiberTalk podcast

    2020 – Stitch Magazine, Interview feature, October/November issue

    2019 Pikchur Magazine, featured artist (US)

    2018 – Dark Mountain Anthology, featured artist

    2018 – Interview, Narratives of Artistic Identity, Sol Howard

    2017 – Embroidery Magazine, News feature, Nov/Dec issue

    2017 – Unveiling the Cheetah, Booth Museum of Natural History, in association with ONCA, Brighton

    2017 – Memory Beyond the Human, Time Studies Cluster, University of Sussex

    2013 – Central Library Arts Division (website), Review, July