After growing up in Laurieton, being able to exhibit at the Glasshouse is a dream come true moment for Michaela Swan, as her exhibition Whatever keeps you warm at night opens on March 24.
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The exhibition is the culmination of months of work which began when she was an Artist in Residence at the Glasshouse in October 2017, and Michaela said that her passion for using textiles means this is an exhibition like no other.
“I love working with textiles because people have relationships with textiles; when I use linen or clothes and people see them in an exhibition, they can be reminded of memories or smells from another time in their life,” Ms Swan said.
“Particularly with this exhibition I was able to work with my dad which was really special and not only are the materials I used being used in a different way, but also the instruments I used have very different purposes.”
Ms Swan predominantly works with textiles and said the common elements in this exhibition are quilt covers and heavy blankets, as she explored how to repurpose materials to provoke emotions from an audience.
“A big part of my work, especially in the initial designing stage, which I see as important, is exploring how the audience will interact with my work,” she said.
“Working on the large scale I had to learn about the materials quite intimately because when you are using an industrial roller to print onto paper the margin for errors are pretty small.
“I tried to explore and push the norm for working with textiles and I am very proud with the end result.”
Glasshouse gallery curator Niomi sands said that the exhibition will lead people to examine the use and reuse of different textiles.
“The residency provided Swan with time to experiment with new printmaking techniques to develop her concept for the exhibition,” Ms Sands said.
“In this exhibition Swan creates a conversation between the found textile and the tradition of printmaking through the creation of large scale mono prints of a variety of mass-produced and handmade blankets.
“The prints were produced collaboratively with Swan’s father utilising road roller as the printing press.
“Each work embraces the inherited properties of the textile article and relies upon the association made with items of comfort to acknowledge the shared relationship we all have with textiles.
“This is also referenced in the textile installation, a reinterpretation of her large arm-knitted site-specific installations – made from torn second-hand quilt covers.”
