E-mail: Dianne.Firth@canberra.edu.au
Starting with traditional bed quilts several decades ago, I have moved to using the quilt medium as a vehicle to explore issues and express ideas. Many of my works are informed by my training as a landscape architect and also from my observations of the relationships and interactions between nature and people. Using a process of abstraction I like to manipulate line, colour and texture to capture an idea, highlight an issue, or evoke a visual and emotional response in the viewer.
My quilts are held in public and private collections in Australia, Europe and USA including: the National Gallery of Australia, the Canberra Museum and Gallery, the Powerhouse Museum Sydney, Museum of Australia, Canberra, University of Canberra Art Collection, Wangaratta Gallery Victoria and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
Bread
Retail Price: NFS
Dimensions: 83x70cm (H x W)
Statement: Bread has been a staple food in most cultures for thousands of years. Wheat and other grains are used to create this remarkable food. Take the grain, crush it to flour, add water and leavening, bake or steam it, and you make bread.
Exhibitions: Gastronomy SAQA Global Exhibition
Photographer: Andrew Sikorski
Black River
Retail Price: NFS
Dimensions: 83cm x 145cmcm (H x W)
Exhibitions: Golden Textures 2021
Photographer: Andrew Sikorski
Three Stones
Retail Price: A$850
Dimensions: 58 x 58cm (H x W)
Statement: Water-worn stones are a continuing source of inspiration. Orange felt,
representing stones, is held between two layers of net, representing waterwhile machine stitching represents flow patterns.
Exhibitions: One Step Further 2019, Bundoora
Photographer: Andrew Sikorski
Waterholes
Retail Price: $1500
Dimensions: 190 x 106cm
Statement: This whole cloth wool quilt was inspired by the dry stone gardens I saw in Japan. Could they be islands surrounded by the sea, bubbles floating on water or just rocks set in raked sand?
Photographer: Dianne Firth
Midden
Retail Price: $3000
Dimensions: 67 x 67cm
Statement: Midden is a two dimensional textile constructed of recycled felt and wool held between layers of net then stitched. The openness of the work enables a shadow to be cast behind it. The work considers the fragility of many cultural artifacts and the debate around their conservation.
Exhibitions: We Need to Talk – Belconnen Arts Centre, 25 Aug-8 Oct 2023
Photographer: Andrew Sikorski
Storm Code
Retail Price: NFS
Dimensions: 69 x 56cm
Statement: Morse code and semaphore are two systems that humans use to send messages. Nature also sends coded messages. The story of a storm is held in the pattern of detritus left behind.
Exhibitions: One Step Further 2020/2021
Photographer: Andrew Sikorski
Change
Retail Price: NFS
Dimensions: 134x 205cm
Statement: Change was created following the bushfires in eastern Australia at the end of 2019 and into 2020. Not only were lives and property lost, but the visual change to large tracts of much-loved native forest was immediate. Tracts of light-coloured trunks of Eucalyptus forest became black charred remains.
Exhibitions: The New Quilt 2021, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery
Photographer: Andrew Sikorski
Intersection
Retail Price: $1250
Dimensions: 101x70cm
Statement: Intersection considers how, in troubling times, many people are torn-apart, go in different directions, and become disconnected. Stitches can bring them together, reconnect and mend.
Exhibitions: ‘Upending Mending’ at the Belconnen Arts Centre 20 May – 3 July 2022
Photographer: Andrew Sikorski
Regimental Poppies
Retail Price: NFS
Dimensions: 102 x 54cm
Statement: Red poppies are a symbol of remembrance for those who have fought in wars. Here they are playfully organized according to a strict system or pattern to mimic a military formation.
Exhibitions: Quilt Visions 2022
Photographer: Andrew Sikorski
