Sue Wademan
Sue Wademan is an award-winning artist and is widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s leading textile artists. Her distinctive fabric‑collage technique has taken her across the globe, teaching in Johannesburg, eight cities throughout Japan, four states of the United States, as well as in Italy, France, Germany, Denmark, the United Kingdom, her homeland Australia, and now throughout her adopted home of New Zealand.
Sue began her creative journey exhibiting within the quilting community. After relocating to Queenstown in 2000, she shifted her focus toward the fine‑art world. At the time, textiles were not readily embraced as a serious medium for picture‑making, but over the past 26 years, perceptions have steadily evolved. Today, her “fabric paintings” are celebrated for their originality, craftsmanship, and luminous detail.
Her work has earned 12 local art awards, and she has created commissioned pieces for both public and private collections. Sue has exhibited widely, sold numerous collage landscapes, and continues to create with remarkable energy and passion at 74 years of age.
Sue’s artistic foundation was laid in the 1970s, when she trained as a commercial artist while working in prominent advertising studios in Sydney and London. In the late ’70s, she stepped back from professional art to raise her three children, exploring pottery, puppetry, and early‑childhood teaching along the way. Everything changed in the early 1990s when she discovered contemporary quilt‑making, a moment that sparked her enduring fascination with fabric as a medium for expressive imagery.
Now based in the alpine village of Queenstown, Sue draws daily inspiration from the dramatic landscapes of New Zealand’s South Island. Her artworks have been described as “jewel‑like images" capturing the beauty and spirit of the world she sees.