Annemarie O'Sullivan

Sculpture Construction

Annemarie O’Sullivan’s work is rooted in the ancient craft of basket making. She uses weaving and binding techniques, which have been used for hundreds of years to create domestic objects through to larger architectural woven forms. Working mainly with machined or coppiced wood, willow and hay, she makes forms and spaces, which are a response to materials grown in and gathered from the land.

Annemarie grew up in Ireland and moved to the UK at the age of 17, eventually becoming a primary school teacher. A one-day basket-weaving course inspired her creative obsession, and was followed by a five-year basketry course at City Lit in London. Annemarie now works from her studio in East Sussex, where she cultivates 20 varieties of willow on her own half acre plot. The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) has provided Annemarie with funding through its D'Oyly Carte Scholarship, and she has trained with the best of her contemporaries, including Alexandra Marks in Italy, Les Llewellyn in Wales, Alison Fitzgerald in Northern Ireland, Mary Butcher in Kent and at Villaines les Rochers in France. Annemarie has also had mentoring through the Crafts Council Hothouse programme, which supports emerging makers.