Lukuise Swanigan doesn’t consider herself to be an artist. But when she comes home from a long day of working in quality control, a kitchen full of fabric, baskets of fabric cords and adhesive is waiting for her, along with a sketch of a family that is waiting to be brought to life.

After Swanigan is done carefully laying out the pieces, layering fabric and gluing each piece down, the final result surprises even her.

“When people see (my) work, I feel the same way they do,” Swanigan said. “I didn’t know that that was in me. … I’m surprised by it as well.”

Swanigan said she has been creating all her life, but she started making work in her particular art style in 2014, after she had a dream about a moving, colorful painting. At that time, she made three pieces of art using colorful fabric cords, which she made by hand.

“When I had that dream, it was vivid,” Swanigan said. “It was almost like I was seeing a painting, but it wasn’t a painting. And it was so colorful, and it was moving. And during that time, it was an image that… never left me. It always stayed with me. And at that time, I was looking for something to mimic it.”

After her first three pieces, Swanigan took a break from creating. But in 2018, she said she knew she needed to start again. She started preparing for her first ever art festival, the Market Street Festival, working in a frenzy to prepare to sell her work.

Once the initial flurry was over, Swanigan kept at it, building up a body of work she could take to other shows, like the Prairie Arts Festival and Kentuck Arts Festival. Over time, her style has gradually changed, with her patterns changing. In 2022, she won best in show at the Ridgeland Fine Arts Festival.

“Every time I do a body of work, something changes,” Swanigan said. “So I’m learning new things as I create.”

Swanigan said her tools have changed over time as she has refined her process, but each piece is still different. Some pieces she can fully visualize before she creates them, and other pieces guide her as she works on them. Smaller pieces can take a week, while larger pieces can take about a month.

Her piece “Chosen,” which depicts grandparents giving wisdom to their granddaughter, was also inspired by a dream. Another piece, “Siblings” was inspired by a little boy she met at her first Market Street Festival, who asked if she could make a piece of him and his sister.

“Normally, I understand why I’m creating something,” Swanigan said. “But with this one, I thought, why am I creating boy and girl siblings? But then that memory from Market Street Festival came (back).”

When it comes to the long-term effect of her art, Swanigan said she has a dream to start a creative center for underprivileged children, so she can share the outlet  she feels in creating art with kids that need it.

But the goal of her current pieces is just to spread joy, both to herself and to those who find themselves drawn to her work. Swanigan said she feels compelled to share the gift she has been given with others.

“All of them are my favorite pieces,” Swanigan said. “They’re my babies. … But I have to (let go). It wasn’t given to me to hold onto. That wasn’t the purpose.”