Woven Together

Dionne Swift is a multimedia artist with a long history in drawing, particularly through textiles and print. Dionne is based between Yorkshire [UK] and Abruzzo [Italy], and exhibits and tutors internationally. 

WOVEN was delighted to be working with Dionne through 2021 in a project that explored collective quilt making. Dionne challenged the Kirklees thread community (those with and without experience of quilt making) to connect with others during lockdown and to try their hand at collectively making a quilt block. Working in groups of four each participant made a square block, working out how the single blocks would come together to make a  larger and complete image. Dionne set herself the challenge to sew each of the blocks together to create two final quilts that were displayed across Kirklees as part of WOVEN in 2021. 

For Dionne this project has always been about collaboration.

“Historically, quilts have always been masterpieces of community collaboration: often created by a whole village as a wedding gift for a young couple or as a celebration to welcome home lonely travellers.  The images portrayed within the tactile tiles are symbolic too; the traditional ‘log cabin’ construction where a yellow centre signifies that there’s a light on in the window to guide you home or a red centre suggests that a warm welcome awaits and there’s a fire on in the hearth.’

Shortlisted Finalist in the Fine Art Textiles Award at The Festival of Quilts 2020: Dionne Swift is a graduate of Goldsmith’s College, London University. She also has a Masters in Textiles from UCE, Birmingham and has over 30 years of creative practice experience.