Background
She was born in Auckland in 1941 and began weaving in the 1960s during her time as an Art and Craft Advisor with the Department of Education.
She was born in Auckland in 1941 and began weaving in the 1960s during her time as an Art and Craft Advisor with the Department of Education.
In 1966, Sloan travelled to Sweden where she studied weaving at Satergiantan.
Between 1998 and 1990, she served on the QEII Arts Council Crafts Advisory Panel. In 1994, she undertook a residency at Waikato Polytechnic. The following year, she became President of the Auckland Handweavers & Spinners Guild, serving until 1997.
From 1996 until 1997, she was also President of the Combined Textile Guilds of New Zealand. In 1998, she held an exhibition at the Crawford Art Centre in Saint Andrews, Scotland, where she created a large-scale work titled Sails, which drew upon concepts of voyaging and the Pacific.
In 2000, Sails was installed at the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts in Queens Wharf, Wellington. According to the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, “Sloan has contributed significantly to the acceptance of craft weaving as an art form in New Zealand.".
In 1983, she became a member of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts and in 1986 was invited to exhibit in "Kahurangi" for the World Craft Council Conference in Vienna.