Cleo Mussi

Cleo Mussi is an established mosaic artist and respected within the Applied Arts both nationally and internationally, originally training in textiles at Goldsmiths', her interest in recycled fabrics, knowledge of pattern, print, weave and stitch translates easily into mosaic. Cleo uses a broad selection of mass produced recycled tableware, coloured tiles and handmade tessellating tiles and other materials which are cut and pieced together.

'Over the last thirty years I have been creating works from old crockery. It is interesting to observe how the descriptions of what I make have changed and evolved with the fashions. In the early 1990s I was salvaging china from ceramic dumps in Stoke, but gradually this became recycling as environmental issues became more prominent. What was seen as junk is now vintage, something more desirable once it is up-cycled, reclaimed, reworked and reformed. Mosaic made from ceramic discard is an old concept. In the early 19th century, the term ‘Boody’ or ‘Boudy’ appears in the Northumberland dialect to donate a piece of broken china. Originally collected and used as playthings for children, by the late 19th century, ‘Boody Ware’ was used to decorate plates, jugs vases and boxes and became quite the fashion. I think of myself as a modern day folk artist, so ‘Boody Ware’ is a perfect description for the technique I use.'

Cleo Mussi, 2016

Cleo will be the subject of a solo exhibition - Mussi's Herbal - at The Scottish Gallery in December 2019.