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.
Black and White
Retail Price: A$3000
Dimensions: 30x60cm (H x W)
Statement: A diptych that plays with design elements of figure and ground.
Exhibitions: SAQA Connecting Threads 2024 Timeless Textiles NSW
Photographer: Andrew Sikorski
Lake Weereewa,
Retail Price: A$4000
Dimensions: 101x100cm (H x W)
Statement: Weereewa, or Lake George, is a sink-lake near Canberra whose water level fluctuates depending on rainfall and evaporation. This diptych focuses on the two extremes – when it is full and when it is empty.
Exhibitions: Poetry of theLakes
Photographer: Andrew Sikorski
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
Red Shift
Retail Price: A$3000
Dimensions: 150 x 74 cm
Statement: What is red? Depending on available light it ranges from the palest pinks, through magentas to the deepest burgundy. This work explores tonal shifts in red against a constant grey background which also seems to shift from dark to light.
Exhibitions: Golden Textures, Maryborough Vic; Art Quilt Elements USA
Awards: Highly Commended, Golden Textures
Photographer: Andrew Sikorski
Scatter
Retail Price: A$3000
Dimensions: 90x 90cm
Statement: When planting bulbs one way to determine where to plant them for a natural look is to throw them in the air – then plant them where they land. I was inspired by this principle and have added colour gradation to symbolize the life cycle of the flower.
Exhibitions: AQIPP 2023
Awards: Highly Commended
Photographer: Andrew Sikorski
Saturn Observed
Retail Price: A$3000
Dimensions: 75 x 75cm
Statement: For more than a decade NASA’s Cassini mission observed Saturn and identified an hexagonal area on the north pole which has been explained as a mega-storm of swirling gasses. This phenomenon is interpreted through bonded fabric, polyester net and thread.
Exhibitions: SAQA Fierce Planets
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
