Diane Firth, Bimbimbie
DIANE FIRTH (Australia)
Bimbimbie 2010 Textile, Torn strip applique, machine quilting. Cotton, polyester batting, polyester thread 198 x 82.5cm Acquired 2011 TEMP13. |
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Biography:
Although initially trained as a landscape architect Dianne Firth also had a strong interest in textiles, leading to studies undertaken at Newcastle Technical College and later, Glasgow Art School. She discovered quilting after seeing a collection of Amish quilts at the National Gallery of Victoria in the early 1980s and undertaking a masterclass with American art quilter Nancy Crow in 1997, the latter of which she acknowledged as having a profound effect on her practice.[1]
Her works have been selected for major juried international and national exhibitions, publications and for public and private collections. Since 2001 she has been one of six artists in the Canberra-based tACTile group with the objective of expanding the boundaries of the art quilt and mounting exhibitions to travel.
Firth is Adjunct Associate Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Design at the University of Canberra. She holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, a PhD, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, and advises the ACT Government on issues related to landscape heritage, trees and urban design.
Many of Firth's works are inspired by the landscape, where she “roamed freely through the bush and deserted beaches, collecting bits and pieces, but mostly observing”. [2]
Artwork:
“Bimbimbie”, an Indigenous Australian word meaning “place of birds”, was a 2011 commission for the Vice Chancellor’s residence and as such, was inspired by the location and surrounding environs, a landscape of rolling terrain intersected by Ginninderra Creek. [3]
The University of Canberra is fortunate to have other examples of Dianne's works in its Collection: “Black Opal” 1995 and “Red River” created 2005.
View:
Gallery Guide from Mosman Art Gallery, Gill Lee takes a slow look at the work of Dianne Firth, included in the textile triennial 'Tension(s) 2020'.
[1] Firth, Dianne, “A passion for landscape” in Textile Fibre Forum, Issue 63, 2001, p.18
[2] ibid
[3] Artist Statement regarding “Bimbimbie”, 2011