Fiona Betsy Faumuina

Fiona is a London-based textile designer specializing in woven textiles. A previous recipient of the Clothworkers’ Foundation award, she studied a BA in Textile Design at Chelsea College of Art. She has been awarded the Haberdashers’ Textile Scholarship to complete her postgraduate degree at the RCA.

Inspired by traditional textiles and handcrafts, she takes a playful approach to handweaving through the use of print and embellishments and the combination of different textile techniques and processes. Interested in expressing ideas of care, identity and storytelling, her work explores methods through which textiles can facilitate conversations, both with ourselves and the world around us.

Awards

2021   The Haberdashers’ Textile Scholarship

2020   The Haberdashers’ Textile Scholarship

2018   Arts Society Lecturing Academy Participant

2017   Shortlisted for National Trust commission

2017   Clothworker's Company and Cockpit Arts Award

2016   Cockpit Arts/Clothworker's Foundation Award

2016   Winner of Reimagining Xiabu project

Born in England to parents of mixed heritage, I grew up removed from the cultures of my parent's and grandparent's and unable to speak the languages they spoke. My project investigates my heritage in a material sense and how it informs my understanding of my own identity, examining the fluidity of cultural identities in a world where cultures are continually merging and evolving.

My father was Samoan and my mother is half Polish, half Scottish. After researching Samoan siapo (tapa cloths), Scottish tartan, and traditional Polish textiles, I sought to bring together aspects of these different textile traditions alongside inspiration taken from family photos and textiles, fusing different elements of my material heritage and personal history into a collection of woven samples.