Swaine was originally trained as a ceramicist, but he works in a variety of materials, methods, and media and has had a long-time focus on collaborative work — in particular with Future Farmers. He has participated in exhibitions at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California; SITE Santa Fe, New Mexico; The Guggenheim, New York; among others. His Free Mending Library received notice on CBS Nightly News (video) in May 2015, and it won him a Jefferson Award for Public Service (video) in San Francisco two months later.

Swaine began teaching at the University of Washington in 2015. His most recent prior teaching was at California College of the Arts and Mills College.