{"id":532,"date":"2016-02-24T10:57:07","date_gmt":"2016-02-24T10:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theartistbookgroup.org.uk.gridhosted.co.uk\/abgwp\/?page_id=532"},"modified":"2025-10-16T11:06:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T11:06:06","slug":"susie-leiper","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/boundunbound.org.uk\/collective\/artists\/susie-leiper\/","title":{"rendered":"Susie Leiper"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

www.susieleiper.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a Chinese woodblock-printed book that first attracted Susie to the idea of making a book: its concertina format so ideal for display, its page design so different from that of a western book, the whole enclosed in covers of silk and tucked into a slipcase. This book was a tactile, beautiful object. From imitations of such books to infinite variations on the concertina and other formats, Susie makes one-off books featuring abstract mountain landscapes, poetry and calligraphy, that complement her large oil paintings and works on Chinese paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susie\u2019s passion for all things Chinese grew out of a spell in Hong Kong and an editorial career in books on Chinese art and archaeology. A graduate of St Andrews and the Courtauld Institute of Art, she completed her formal training in calligraphy under artist Donald Jackson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

News<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Gallery<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Solo shows:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • On high hills <\/em>(2023), Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Reopening <\/em>(2021), Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Library <\/em>(2020, online only), Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • One never quite knows the mountain \u2026 <\/em>(2017), Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The Living Mountain\u00a0<\/em>(2015), Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The One Life\u00a0<\/em>(2012) and\u00a0The<\/em>\u00a0Word on Wood\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>(2011), Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Into the mountain, <\/em>(2016), &Collective Gallery, Bridge of Allan<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Selected group shows: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • On the same page, <\/em>with bound : unbound, Upright Gallery, Edinburgh (2025)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Endless mystery<\/em>, Tatha Gallery, Newport-on-Tay (2025)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • covered . discovered,<\/em> with the SSI and Designer Bookbinders, Crafts Council Gallery, London (2024)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Scottish Landscape Awards 2023 – 2024, <\/em>City Art Centre, Edinburgh<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Evoke\/Provoke<\/em>, Tatha Gallery, Newport-on-Tay, (2024)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Pattern : Books, <\/em>Upright Gallery, Edinburgh (2022)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • On Sonorous Seas, <\/em>An Tobar and Mull Theatre and Shona Reid Gallery, Glasgow School of Art (2022)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Words made beautiful, <\/em>with the SSI, Mall Galleries, London (2021)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • bound : unbound<\/em>, & Gallery, Edinburgh (2018)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Encounter, <\/em>Tatha Gallery, Newport-on-Tay (2018)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Up on the mountain and down by the river, <\/em>Upright Gallery, Edinburgh (2018)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • The Word-Hoard, <\/em>curated by Robert Macfarlane, Wordsworth House Museum, Cockermouth, Cumbria (2017)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Orchestra of letters, <\/em>Snape Maltings, Suffolk (2017)\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Divine Inspiration, <\/em>with the SSI at York Minster (2016)\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Words Set Free,\u00a0<\/em>London, Sunderland, Bruges (2012 \u2013 13)\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Celebrate Calligraphy<\/em>, London, Sunderland, Halifax (2011 \u2013 12)\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • The Wych<\/em>\u00a0Elm Project<\/em>, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (2009)\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • The Saint John\u2019s Bible,\u00a0<\/em>V&A, London (2006)\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • RSA, RSW, SSA and VAS annual exhibitions\u00a0(various, 2006 \u2013 18).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Awards include the Pax Christi Award (2023), W Gordon Smith Award (VAS, 2018), ECA Library Prize (RSA,\u00a0<\/em>2015), the Morton Fraser Award (VAS,\u00a0<\/em>2013) and the Nancy Graham Memorial Book Award (VAS, 2011).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Susie\u2019s work is held in the collections of the British Museum; Corpus Christi College, Oxford; Edinburgh Central Library; Edinburgh College of Art Library, University of Edinburgh; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; National Library of Scotland; National Museums Scotland; and the Royal Collection. Susie is a Fellow of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators and is based in Edinburgh. Her calligraphy features on all four RBS polymer banknotes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Susie is available for commissions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      www.susieleiper.com It was a Chinese woodblock-printed book that first attracted Susie to the idea of making a book: its concertina format so ideal for display, its page design so different from that of a western book, the whole enclosed in covers of silk and tucked into a slipcase. This book was a tactile, beautiful object. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1456,"parent":141,"menu_order":-2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-532","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/boundunbound.org.uk\/collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/boundunbound.org.uk\/collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/boundunbound.org.uk\/collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boundunbound.org.uk\/collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boundunbound.org.uk\/collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/boundunbound.org.uk\/collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2206,"href":"https:\/\/boundunbound.org.uk\/collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/532\/revisions\/2206"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boundunbound.org.uk\/collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boundunbound.org.uk\/collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/boundunbound.org.uk\/collective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}