British artist Geraldine Swayne (b.1965), is a painter and experimental musician. I see it and know I dreamt it is Geraldine Swayne's first solo exhibition in Scandinavia. Her paintings have an almost filmic, dreamlike quality, emphasizing scenes with slightly uneasy, often suggestive undertones. Working largely from photographs rather than still life, the artist chooses images that give her a metaphysical charge, electrifying her interest in the subject. Swayne often paints friends, although anonymous sources come into play at times, adapting faces and bodies to possess a psychological narrative. Swayne explains, ‘I try to amplify the people I paint with painterly effects that speak to the unconscious, rather than to the intellect.’ The people in her paintings can give an air of restraint, mystique even, instead of than being dramatically active. ‘Hopefully this serves to heighten evidence of a vivid, if sometimes unusual, interior psyche’, she shares. Swayne employs various material in her work, painting with enamels and glass paint due to the luminous quality of the color and because of their viscosity, which suits the artists speed of application. The work, often diminutive in size, invites a close physical relationship between subject and viewer, creating a private and slightly transgressive feeling, like looking through a keyhole. This proximity also reflects the private psychology that Swayne investigates in her subjects. Swayne’s small paintings liken historical miniatures and feature contemporary subjects from sources as diverse as pornography, landscape painting and portraits of friends. The paintings are completely self-contained yet have a subtle brevity of form and lightness of touch.

Beyond Swayne’s visual art practice, she is also a member of the celebrated band Faust, blurring the boundaries between her work as a painter as a musician. Often painting her musical collaborators, she also incorporates painting into her on-stage performances and documents her experimental performances in her paintings. Swayne is noted for navigating the complex relationships between painting, music and film.

Geraldine Swayne studied Fine Art at Newcastle University UK, (1985-89). The artist recently exhibited at the Fine Art Society. UK, Royal Academy London, Aeroplastics, Brussels, and Turps Gallery, London, and has previously exhibited at the Barbican, Cavaert 22, L-13 and Fred, London. Her multifaceted and distinguished career includes winning the esteemed Northern Arts Travel award to paint and make super-8 films about Voodoo practices in New Orleans, USA. She has made numerous experimental films including the world’s first super-8 to Imax film East End, produced by Cathy Shaw, and narrated by Miriam Margolyes with music by Nick Cave. Starting in 2004 she was the studio manager for the acclaimed British artist duo Jake and Dinos Chapman, rebuilding their famed work Hell, for several years. In 2010 she was a finalist in the John Moores Painting Prize, Walker Gallery, Liverpool. Currently residing in Hastings, Sussex, UK, she holds the position of a mentor at Turps Art School since 2018.

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