Running concurrently to Black Books we are also presenting a series of new tufted works by Jess Swney in the galleries library space.

Under the Table navigates themes of self-discovery, unconscious biases and vulnerability. Swney’s use of fabric can be viewed as part of a historical continuum and critique of our cultural heritage, which saw ‘textiles’ as medium and vocabulary typically assigned to women. Her tufted rug ‘paintings’ address the nuanced journey of self-awareness and societal expectations – through the unseen and the unspoken.

Swney’s subject matter floats between abstraction and realism, developed from both memory and experience, using materiality and tone to define and redefine these intents. In this respect her partiality discernible forms exploit the all-important edge between form, colour and texture to relay experience and expressions of emotion, without merely ‘depicting a scene’.  These playful works explore the ability to simultaneously produce beauty and pleasure from the complex interplay of personal and collective struggles.