Artistry in Tandem
A Conversation with Liv & Dom
In the heart of Lewes, East Sussex, twin sisters Liv and Dom Cave-Sutherland are blurring the lines between functional craft and ancient storytelling. Known for their “heirloom” aesthetic, the duo creates ceramics that feel less like modern products and more like treasures unearthed from a folklore-rich past. For the Spring 26 collection, they have collaborated with Ffern to translate the olfactory essence of the season into physical form—most notably through the “Wild Woman” platter and a unique urn celebrating Celtic fire festivals. From the Romanesque curls of a foliate head to the earthy palette of the Sussex Downs, Liv and Dom share how their shared “twin hand” and a deep reverence for history breathe life into their whimsical, one-of-a-kind creations.
Hello Liv & Dom, how are you? Can you tell us a bit about yourself, who you are, where you’re based, and what you do?
Hello, we’re good, thank you! We’re busy, always busy creating! We are identical twin sisters based in Lewes, East Sussex. We consider ourselves to be artists or ceramicists but occasionally we can be illustrators or designers. We create highly decorative, whimsical ceramics with an heirloom feel. Our works are inspired by the natural world, history, mythology, traditional and folk craft.
As identical twins, you share a unique bond. How does this “twin dynamic” translate into your studio practice? Do you find that you have a “shared hand” when decorating pieces like the Fire and Light urn?
L - On this particular piece, we worked together more closely than usual. Dom coil built the vessel, and glazed the bottom ‘Imbolc’ section, I glazed the other 3 festivals. We sat sketching together to create the flow and harmony of the design. Occasionally we will collaborate like this, particularly if we’re really excited by something and are both eager to be involved.
Generally our body of work does look like it could have been created by one hand! We are lucky that our minds and hands work in a similar way.
Your work is often described as “feminine and whimsical.” How do you balance your individual artistic voices while maintaining that cohesive, signature Liv & Dom look?
D - At this point in our decade long collaboration, it can be hard to detangle our artistic identities. Within our practice we tend to shift between different looks, with overarching themes, colour palette, and quality of line tying them all together. The diversity in our work stems partly from a wide range of influences and a creative need to experiment, as well as from our individual artistic styles naturally finding their way into our ceramics.. For example, Liv brings her bolder approach to decoration, and I bring my whimsical sculptural work to the table. We both then take on parts of these skills and learn from each other.
The '“Wild Woman” platter features a mythic, foliate face. Could you tell us more about the folklore behind this figure and why she felt like the right ‘face’ for the Spring 26 collection?
L - The renewal of spring makes me feel the most connected to the cycles of nature. With the early signs of spring, I often ruminate on the continuous turn of the seasons throughout my life and beyond. For the candle series, each seasonal design draws inspiration from artistic movements in history. For Spring 26, we turned to the ancient past, embracing the mystery of the enigmatic foliate face. This timeless human face entangled and sprouting with new growth, found across many continents, felt like the perfect way to convey our universal connection to the seasonal rebirth of spring.
Your work for the Artefact Store includes a one-of-a-kind urn celebrating Celtic fire festivals like Imbolc and Beltane. How do these ancient seasonal markers influence your creative process?
D - History is a passion of ours, starting from our teens when we consumed all the period drama DVD’s we could get our hands on. We try to connect to the past through all aspects of our lives through literature, dress, interior design, our artwork and through being in nature. You can’t really be out in nature without feeling in some small way connected to the past. Seasonal shifts remain mostly unchanged and unsullied by the modern world, they are timeless. We are always seeking out timeless truths and motifs to inspire our artwork. When Ffern approached us with this project our eyes lit up, Celtic fire festivals are so rich in evocative and symbolic imagery and traditions, they’re a perfect example of that nature/past link we seek out.
For the 2026 candle series, you’ve adopted a Romanesque style for the foliate head. What is it about this specific historical aesthetic that resonates with Ffern’s natural, craft-led philosophy?
L - There are many foliate heads that exist throughout history, we chose the Romanesque head specifically as the style tends to feature spirals and whorls of branches and flowers - a natural fit for Spring. This period in history marked a transition to more refined craftsmanship in architecture and illuminated manuscripts, where these foliate heads were often found. The carvings still peer down at us from ancient buildings today, a testament to the endurance of craft.
All your ceramics for Ffern are hand-decorated and glazed in Lewes. How does the landscape or the charming atmosphere of East Sussex seep into the clay and the colors you choose?
D - Our work has definitely been influenced by our move to Lewes (from somewhere else in Sussex, a fairly bland commuter belt town, not particularly charming!). Our rustic, warm colour palette has developed gradually, perhaps as a result of living here. Tastefully painted houses, many antique shops, the gently rolling downs, it all has an effect on the earthy, subtle hues we use. The respect for nature and tradition that Lewes embodies is reflected in our choice to use the natural tones of clay as a base for our work, rather than completely covering them in glazes.
Working with a fragrance brand is a very sensory experience. Did the notes of the Spring 26 Eau de Parfum or the scent of the seasonal candle directly inspire the illustrations for the candle enamel or the Wild Woman platter?
D - We knew that rewilding and early budding blossoms were themes for the then upcoming Spring 26 Eau de parfum. We were thinking of earthy, roots and dewy shoots when designing our Wild Woman. She is waiting, sleepily while the season shifts around her, waiting to fully wake up when spring fully arrives.
Ffern’s Artefact Store is described as a celebration of “creative collaboration.” What has been the most rewarding part of translating Ffern’s olfactory world into a physical, ceramic form?
L - It has been a delight to respond to Ffern’s beautiful interpretations of the seasons through our art. We admire the way they fully embody the spirit of a season and create truly unique fragrances and narratives, and knew we had to take the same care when considering our designs. The most rewarding part is simply being involved in this rich seasonal story telling, getting to slow down and dive deep into what a season feels like and having the opportunity to explore this through our art.
The Fire Festival urn is a one-of-a-kind piece. In a world of mass production, why is it important for you to create objects that feel like “artefacts” with their own unique stories?
D - We are firm believers that nearly everything one ‘needs’ already exists in the world, so we are conscious that we should at least try to make objects that are worth the energy and resources used to produce them. Mass production often reduces art and design to a homogenous blob and we can push against that in a small way by not scaling up into factory style production.
We love to witness the delight of owning truly unique pieces, with their little imperfections, that one artist or craftsperson (or two in our case!) has made from start to finish. There is more joy and satisfaction, which is passed from the artist directly to the new owner.
Ffern - @Ffern.co
www.ffern.co
Liv & Dom - @livanddom
www.livanddom.com
Pictures - Leia Morrison @leiamiamorrison