In her abstract paintings and works on paper, Jane Swavely attempts to reconcile romanticism and minimalism while referencing natural and cinematic elements. Intense areas of color are set against zones where paint has been wiped from the surface, revealing undertones and vestigial forms. Swavely’s practice is intuitive and comes from the artist’s subconscious, each work an expression of a lingering thought. Compositionally, visual evocations of screens and portals are constant in the work as is an illusive silver tone, appearing intensely reflective and polished in some works and a tarnished patina in others. When combined with rich pigmented color otherwise present in her paintings the results can be emulsive and luminous, recalling some alchemical consequence.
 
Jane Swavely attended the figurative academic program at Boston University College of Fine Arts. Swavely moved to New York City in 1980, and worked as an assistant to New Image artist Lois Lane while attending the School of Visual Arts, and then for Brice Marden until 1985. In 1986 at the age of twenty-five, she held her first solo-show at CDS Gallery. She was part of the CDS Gallery roster until 2005. As her career progressed, Swavely became part of A.I.R, a legendary female-run art space founded in the 1970s. A.I.R provided her with five solo exhibitions from 2011-2022, showcasing the depth and breadth of her talent over the years.

Swavely has held solo exhibitions at Magenta Plains, New York, NY; the New Arts Program, Kutztown, PA; Loyola College, Baltimore, MD; and the Mandeville Gallery at Union College in Schenectady, NY. She has exhibited her paintings in group exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Nashville, and abroad. Swavely is the recipient of a Ford Foundation Fellowship. Her work is in numerous public and private collections, including the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection and the Allentown Art Museum in Pennsylvania. She currently lives in her loft on the Bowery in New York City and maintains a studio in Hudson Valley, New York.