SWOON’s worlds are often populated by realistically rendered-- and evocatively cut-out- street people, often her friends and family. Riding bikes, talking on a stoop, going grocery shopping.

These people traverse a cityscape of her own unique invention. Bridges, fire escapes, water towers and street signs create crisscrossing shadows and spaces through which her figures move. Inspired by both art historical and folk sources, ranging from German Expressionist wood block prints to Indonesian shadow puppets, SWOON is a master of using cut paper to play with positive and negative space in a conceptually driven exploration of the experience of the streets.