Lindy McSwan was born, lives, and works in Naarm / Melbourne, Australia. Her creative practice developed through the study of gold and silversmithing and has evolved to encompass a broad palette of materials, including steel at various stages in its life cycle, from collected iron ore to found rusted steel objects, cardboard, handmade pigments and fabric.
Lindy was a recipient of an Australia Council for the Arts ArtStart Grant in 2015. As an Artist in Residence at Bundanon, 2017, working in the Dorothy Dwyer Silversmithing studio, she formed the early ideas for her MFA Research project.
In February 2023, she completed her MFA at RMIT University. The December 2022 issue of Garland magazine features an article by Lindy outlining her interest in the material properties, life cycle, and experimental potential of steel. She was a finalist in the 2022 and 2024 Robert Foster Metal Prize at Craft and Design Canberra, exhibiting works that were outcomes of her research project.
The vessel is at the centre of my practice. It is the archetypal form made by silversmiths historically and in contemporary practice. Using a broad palette of materials I make collections of vessels informed by experience of place.
/ Lindy McSwan