ALYSSA SWANSON

I am inspired by craft as a historic tool for silent expression. I imagine the women who came before me willing their thoughts, dreams, and worries into their craft. Through the repetition of a single stitch and a collection of various fabrics, I experiment with texture, weight, and line. I draw and sculpt with my materials, embracing my instincts as a painter. Through the conceptual push and pull, I confront that which lies below the surface: emotions and darkness from the past and within. The resulting objects and images are apparitions of my own experience.

​

In 2021, I was awarded an Individual Artist Project Grant from Arrowhead Regional Arts to create three quilts that illustrate both literary depictions and personal lived experiences of mental illness. 

Individual Artist Project Grant is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.