Geraldine Swayne

Geraldine Swayne (born 1965) is a painter who works mainly in miniature in enamel on metal.

She studied Fine Art at Newcastle University from 1985–89 and in 1990 she won a Northern Arts Travel award to paint and make super-8 films about Voodoo in New Orleans, then moved to rural France for a year, living as a portraitist and making a series of large outdoor paintings. In 1992 she moved to the UK and became a pioneer special effects designer at Computer Film Company, in London and later, Los Angeles.

Since 1999, 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. After leaving the film industry in 2004 she worked as an assistant for Jake and Dinos Chapman rebuilding 'Hell'. Although better known as a painter in 2005 she joined experimental rock group …bender and in the following year the 'Krautrock" group Faust, with whom she has recorded two albums and toured widely, making musical improvisations and live paintings at venues such as the Wrexner Centre for the Arts in Ohio, Detroit Museum of Contemporary Art and CalArts.

She has been exhibited in numerous group and solo shows, for example 'Suspicion' at Jerwood Space, Volta New York, Saatchi Galleries' 'The Future Can Wait', David Risley Copenhagen, 'The Free Art Fair at the Barbican, 'Fresh Air Machine' at Calvert 22 and 'Kunst aus Klang' Contemporary Fine Art Berlin. In 2010 she was a finalist in the John Moores painting prize, Walker Gallery, Liverpool, and in 2014 she had her first Museum show in 'Were Still Here' at Magasin6 in Stockholm. She was also nominated in a list of top ten art/music cross-over artists by Dazed Magazine in 2014 [4 She is represented by the Fine Art Society, London. She was recently awarded a live/work residency at Acme Fire-station in East London, where she now lives and paints.