Heather B. Swann (born 1961) is an Australian contemporary artist known for her expressive

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

sculptural objects, often combined with installation, performance and drawings. Her work draws on artisanal traditions, carving, modelling and tailoring materials to stretch, twist and manipulate her creaturely forms that are at once whimsical and darkly ambiguous. She has received numerous recognition for her work, and her pieces are held in prominent collections, including the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

, Dubbo Regional Gallery and the

Ian Potter Museum of Art The Potter Museum of Art at the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia was established in 1972. The Potter, as it is known locally, presents a curated exhibition program of historical and contemporary art. Through its activities the Pot ...

" My work is a way of holding on to the world. My sculptures and drawings are figurative and
modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
in expression, with curved forms, an insistent use of black and a marked surrealist accent."

Recognition, scholarship and awards

* Paul Guest Drawing Prize (2014) * Goddard Sapin-Jaloustre Scholarship, France (2005) * Rosamund McCulloch Scholarship, University of Tasmania, Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris, France (1998)

Exhibitions

* ''Leda and the Swan'', Tarrawarra Museum of Art, Victoria (2021-2022) * Know my name: Australian women artists 1900 to now, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (2021 - 2022) * ''I LET MY BODY FALL INTO A RHYTHM'', BuOY Arts Centre, Tokyo, Japan and The Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne, Australia (2017-2018) * ''Nervous,'' National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (2017) * ''Banksia Men,'' 2016 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Magic Object, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (2016) Paul Guest Drawing Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo (2014) * Solitaire, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Victoria (2014) * Creep Show, Strange Neighbour, Melbourne (2013) * I am Heathcliff, Daine Singer Gallery, Melbourne (2012) * Louise Bourgeois and Australian Artists, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne (2012) * Seven Things To Do In An Emergency, The British School at Rome, Rome (2011) * Marcher sur les pelouses, Plimsoll Gallery, Hobart (2009) * Who let the dogs out, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery (2008) * Swan Hill Prints and Drawing Acquisitive Awards, Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery (2008) * A Room Inside, Ian Potter Museum of Art, the University of Melbourne (2007 * Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Woollahra, Sydney (2007 & 2006) * Stan and Maureen Duke Gold Coast Art Prize, Gold Coast City Art Gallery (2007) * Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award, Werribee Park, Victoria (2002 - 2005) * National works on paper prize, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery (2004) * National Sculpture Prize and Exhibition, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (2001)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swann, Heather B. 1961 births Living people 21st-century Australian artists Australian surrealist artists 20th-century Australian sculptors Women's Art Register artists