Jenna Swearington
Charleston, SC | Exhibiting Since 2007
Jenna Swearington constructs each silk wearable from white silk off the bolt, and then dyes it to place the pattern on the garment and the figure. Besides screen printing her drawings and found images, she also incorporates a lot of Japanese shibori dyeing in both additive and subtractive dyeing processes. She use the scraps from the clothing to collage scarves together through artistic intuition, letting go of color theories and formulas to make unexpected, refreshing arrangements of color, pattern and texture. While her silk clothing pieces are highly individual, they are also practical. All items are preshrunk, dye-set, hand-washable, and can be worn casual or dressed up. These clothes are meant to be lived in, as they exist in a realm between trendy and timeless; they are fun and fresh year after year. Each item is signed rather than labeled, as it was made by an artist, not a factory.