FOREWORD OTHERWORLDS Other Otherworlds presents a collection of works which delve deep into views and states of being which parallel, or allow access to worlds which sit outside the ordinary. It shows us what painting can do as a medium and as a space to reflect on where we are now, by taking us, (the viewer) on a journey to the Elsewhere. The exhibition features the paintings of seven artists based in South and West Wales. The works demonstrate their ability and mastery of the medium itself to conjure, invent and use the pictorial space as a portal through which fantastic or dreamlike states can be visualised. The works shown draw on film, science-fiction, animation and leaps into the imaginary to combine elements taken from experience, with somewhere referencing the dr normal, to a place very far from it. The post apocalyptic world as portrayed in the cinematography of the film Stalker by Tarkovsky, are the origins of the two paintings by Jo Berry shown here from her recent series, started during lockdown in 2021. The fictional world viewed through the lense of science fiction, has been transformed through multiple sampling and re-versioning of the original image through downloading, copying and re-photographing, and then finally through the medium of paint, to defamiliarise recognition of the landscape. The images shown here are dreamlike, figures inhabit the space like apparitions, visitors from other worlds. The paintings become just like the Zone, a bridge interceding between worlds, where the viewer hovers on the edges of it, perhaps fr in wonder, probably in fear. As artist Susan Adams' statement says; “the idea of receiving messages from other realms has for centuries related to human feelings of the divine and the sublime. At once feared and longed for, this fixation has also found a home in narratives of science and technology. Adams’s paintings in ‘other worlds’ don’t so much ask “Are we alone in the universe?” but question the alien in ourselves.” The paintings give us an eerie sense of being watched and listened to, there is a haunting sense that there is something else going on of f-scene, that the real power that controls is elsewhere. For Tess Gray, and Charlotte Brisland, the site of habitation whether a house or a tent, seem absurd, out of scale, dwarfed by the heightened state of the landscape into which it could sink, as if human attempts to be civilised are futile. There is a mismatch in the balance of realities, between human and nature, yet the paintings allow both to be present and seen side by side. For Will Roberts the painter is the explorer, adventurer and fool. Armed with a spacesuit and paint he tries to paint the world around him as if to control the environment, and put it on the same page. Zena Blackwells’ paintings give a platform to the strange amalgamation of recognisable elements from the ‘normal’ or everyday within the surreal, through heightened artif icial pinks, the presence of animals and children alert and waiting as if communicating silently through a telepathic frequency tuned to a sense which is immune to adults. The show also gives space to images which present the suspension of normality through the physical suspension of the body held in water. Emily Unsworth White and Richard James both paint the lyrical and meditative space that allows the head to be disconnected and freed from the gravity of mind tied to the earth, to enter a mid-space zone that holds the state of mind and body to allow consciousness to expand beyond the known. Ultimately it is the realm of painting as a space for narrative, a space removed from the everyday through its very material ability and the tricks of technique to convey whatever version of reality the artist chooses to present. Thus giving sight to dreams, fears and revels in the very spaces on the edges of the conscious or known worlds, allowing us as the viewer, to transcend and walk among it. Zoë Gingell Director, Cardiff MADE Gallery
ABOUT
RHAGAIR OTHERWORLDS Mae Otherworlds yn cyflwyno casgliad o waith sy’n tyrchu i amcanion a chyflyrau sy’n cyfateb, neu’n galluogi mynediad i fydoedd tu hwnt i’r cyffredin. Mae’n dangos yr hyn mae paentio yn gallu gwneud fel cyfrwng ac fel gofod i ystyried ble rydym yn nawr, trwy ein cludo (y gwyliwr) ar daith i’r Rhywle Arall. Mae’r arddangosfa yn cynnwys paentiadau gan saith artist wedi eu lleoli yn Ne a Gorllewin Cymru. Mae’r gwaith yn cyfleu eu gallu a’u meistrolaeth o’r cyfrwng ei hun i gonsurio, dyfeisio a defnyddio’r gofod darluniadol fel porth ble caif f cyflyrau hynod a breuddwydiol eu gweld. Mae’r gwaith a ddangosir yn gwneud defnydd o ffilm, gwyddonias, animeiddiad ac yn neidio i’r dychmygol i gyfuno elfennau wedi eu cymryd o brofiad, gyda rhywle ddangosi yn cyfeirio at y cyffredin, i rywle pell iawn ohono. Traddiad dau o baentiadau Jo Berry oi chyfres newydd, a dechreuodd yn ystod cyfnod clo 2021, yw y byd ôl-apocalyptaidd a phortreadwyd yn sinematograffeg y ffilm Stalker gan Tarkovsky. Mae’r byd ffuglennol sy’n cael ei weld drwy lens ffuglen wyddonol wedi cael ei drawsnewid drwy samplo lluosog ac ailgyflwyno’r ddelwedd wreiddiol drwy lawrlwytho, copïo ac ail- f fotograf fu, ac yn olaf drwy’r baentio, i ddadgynefino adnabyddiaeth y dirwedd. Mae’r delweddau a ddangosir yma yn freuddwydiol, mae f f igyrau yn cyfanheddu'r gofod fel rhithiau. Ymwelwyr o fydoedd eraill. Mae’r paentiadau yn troi i fod yn union fel y Zone, pont yn cymodi rhwng bydoedd ble mae’r gwyliwr yn sefyllian ar ei ffiniau, efallai mewn syndod, siŵr o fod pae ag ofn. Fel dywedodd yr artist Susan Adams mewn datganiad: “mae’r syniad o dderbyn negeseuon o fydoedd eraill wedi, ers canrifoedd perthyn i deimladau dynol o’r dwyfol a’r arddunol. Ar unwaith yn codi ofn ac hiraeth, mae’r obsesiwn yma wedi ymgartrefu hefyd yn naratif gwyddoniaeth a thechnoleg. Nid yw paentiadau Adam yn ‘other worlds’ yn gofyn cymaint “Ydyn ni ar ein pennau'n hunain yn y bydysawd?” ond yn cwestiynu yn estron yn ein hunain. Mae’r paentiadau yn rhoi ymdeimlad iasol o gael ein gwylio a’n clywed, mae yno deimlad cythryblus fod rhywbeth arall yn digwydd tu ôl i’r llenni, bod y pŵer sy’n rheoli go iawn yn digwydd rhywle arall. I Tess Gray a Charlotte Brisland, mae lleoliad preswylio boed yn dŷ neu babell yn ymddangos yn hurt, allan o raddfa, yn cael ei leihau gan gyflwr cryfach y dirwedd ble gallai suddo i mewn iddo, fel petai fod ymdrechion dynol i fod yn ddiwylliedig yn ddi-fudd. Mae annhebygrwydd yng nghydbwysedd gwirioneddau, rhwng bodau dynol a natur, eto mae’r paentiadau yn galluogi’r ddau i fod yn bresennol a’u gweld ochr wrth ochr. I Will Roberts y paentiwr yw’r fforiwr, anturiaethwr a’r ffŵl. Wedi ei arfogi a siwt ofod a phaent mae e’n ceisio paentio’r byd o’i amgylch fel petai i reoli’r amgylchedd, a’i roi ar yr un dudalen. Mae paentiadau Zena Blackwell yn rhoi platfform i’r cyfuniad hynod o elfennau adnabyddus o’r ‘cyffredin’ neu bob dydd o fewn y swrreal, drwy binciau artiffisial cryf, gyda phresenoldeb anifeiliaid a phlant yn wyliadwrus ac yn aros fel petai nhw’n cyfathrebu’n ddistaw drwy amledd telepathig wedi ei diwnio i synnwyr sy’n mennu dim ar oedolion. Mae’r sioe hefyd yn rhoi gofod i ddelweddau sy’n cynrychioli daliant normalrwydd drwy ddaliant materol y corf f mewn dŵr. Mae Emily Unsworth White a Richard James yn paentio’r gofod telynegol a myfyrgar sy’n normalrw galluogi’r pen fod yn anghystylliedig a bod yn rhydd o’r disgyrchiant y meddwl sydd wedi ei glymu i’r ddaear, i ddod i mewn i’r parth canolog sy’n dal cyflwr meddwl a chorff i ganiatáu’r ymwybod ehangu tu hwnt i’r hysbys. Yn y pen draw, y byd o baentio fel gofod ar gyfer naratif ydyw, gofod wedi ei ddileu o’r bob dydd drwy ei allu materol a’r triciau a thechnegau i gyfleu pa bynnag fersiwn o wirionedd mae’r artist yn dewis i gynrychioli. Felly yn rhoi golwg i freuddwydion, ofnau ac yn gwledda yn y gofodau ar gyrion yr ymwybodol neu’r byd adnabyddus, yn ein galluogi ni, y gwyliwr, i fynd a cherdded yn eu plith. Zoë Gingell Cyfarwyddwr, Galeri Cardiff MADE
AMDANOM NI
ARTISTS
SUSAN ADAMS The idea of receiving messages from other realms has for centuries related to human feelings of the divine and the sublime. At once feared and longed for, this fixation has also found a home in narratives of science and technology. Adams’s paintings in “Other Worlds” don’t so much ask “Are we alone in the universe?” but question the alien in ourselves. What kind of animal is advanced capitalism turning us into? The paintings give us an eerie sense of being watched and listened to, there is a haunting sense that there is something else going on off-scene, that the real power that controls is elsewhere. Working across the mediums of drawing, painting, animation and sculpture, Adams explores how narrative is active in our perception of reality, events and histories. Drawing on books, television, films and the internet she is interested in how we build internal images of ourselves and create stories about our world. Recent culture wars have highlighted that fiction and truth are more nebulous than previously supposed, making the ability to untangle narratives all the more important. Her interest in the gothic uncanny – a force simultaneously drawing us in while repelling us – is tempered by the subversive power of humour. Adams has exhibited internationally, having been an artist in residence in the USA, India and UK. She has also lectured widely and worked as community arts workshop leader. She is currently based in Brecon.
JO BERRY Taking photographs from a variety of screens as source material (film stills taken from YouTube, screengrabs of ReCAPCHTA images) Jo Berry’s paintings are in dialogue with the status of the image today and what is going on in the world viewed through different screens. Through the process of uploading, downloading, cropping and editing these low-resolution images, there is a natural move towards abstraction, with visual references becoming hard to find. Jo’s paintings capture this quality and enable a new narrative to emerge through the blur of paint. Berry’s works in this exhibiton are based n the Tarkovsky film ’Stalker’, specifically the post-apocalyptic landscape of ‘the Zone’, a toxic aftermath of an alien visitation. Watching Stalker for the first Tar time during the 2021 winter lockdown coincided with repetitive walks around the post-industrial edge lands of Cardiff. Jo felt a connection with the visual landscape of the Zone and the hazardous and restricted existence of Covid times. Working with a corrupted image – in this case a classic piece of cinema viewed on YouTube and then screengrabbed - Jo’s painstaking paintings become spatially ambiguous, and a dreamlike narrative emerges. Born in Essex, studied in Manchester, Jo Berry has been living in Cardiff since 2003. She is currently taking part in the Turps Correspondence Course.
ZENA BLACKWELL “My recent paintings have been exploring and redefining narratives present in my work for some time. The vulnerability and anxieties of both parent and “M child, combined with a fantastical element, take the work along a new trajectory. Loose Adventure, painted towards the end of 2020, hinted at the freedoms that were on the horizon following the ups and downs I experienced during the first year of Covid. The cherub is symbolic of both my children (/any child) and myself, with the steps suggesting freedom, hope and possibility but also, the ubiquitous uphill struggle. I am becoming increasingly fascinated by the dynamic and dialogue between children and animals along their stark similarities and the relationship between them. The lions seem fascin to protect but are also a threat. The person feeding a fish to a penguin seems to be ignoring a child who desperately wants to feed the bird too.” Zena Blackwell was born in Aberystwyth; she completed her BA and MA in fine art in London and now lives and works in Cardiff. She is the recipient of the MADE Summer Art Prize (2017) and has received Arts Council of Wales for various projects. She is currently enrolled on the Turps Correspondence Course. She has work in the permanent art collection at The National Library of Wales.
CHARLOTTE BRISLAND “Isolation, space and light in the landscapes I play with is open for me to control and place beyond language. I like the overpowering elements and something ordinary made strange or displaced. Built from collages of spaces both real and fictitious, the decisions are often made through a visual investigation from drawings to collages and into the painting. Distance and space, ideas of displacement and a post apocalypse or looming apocalypse are ideas which haunt and settle in the work.” Charlotte Brisland graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2004 and has exhibited in London, New York, Japan and Berlin. She won the prize for Charl landscape in the Jackson’s Painting Prize 2018 and has been featured in the women’s edition of ‘Create Magazine’ May 2019. Most recently she has work in Hastings Contemporary as part of the ASP exhibition 'A generous space' and is part of the 'studio sale' with the auction collective. Charlotte Brisland is an art lecturer and lives and works in Wales.
T E S S G R AY Painted in 2015 Gable Dormer is part of a series of works relocating prefab houses into science fiction landscapes. Our home can become a transportative device, allowing us to live in our own private universe apart from the world outside. Simultaneously the reality of owning a home has become an unreachable fantasy for many. Interruption was made through an automatic painting process. Each new line colour and gesture feeds into the next as the mind wanders around the newly created landscape and looks at ideas around the subconcious, meditation and positive interruptions train of thought.
RICHARD JAMES "I was first drawn to underwater images because of their otherworldly quality - the figure's sense of weightlessness and their submerged, distorted bodies in combination with the refracted light is captivating. The paintings have a playfulness about them but also something a little sinister too, the perspective and points of view that are reminiscent of scenes from 1970s and 80's horror b-movies." Richard James is a painter based in Cardiff. His work is an exploration of his chosen medium; oil paint. While the subject matter often varies, James's interest in the material and its capabilities are central to his practice.
WILL ROBERTS Through his representations of advanced technology, Roberts wants to emphasise how these technological advances are changing society and what it Th means to be human. The titles of Roberts’ paintings are palindromes - reading backwards as well as forwards - and like his titles, he wants the viewer to decipher the painting’s properties and imagery, both forwards and in reverse, so that they in turn become part of the making of the work. Will Roberts (born 1977) is a contemporary British painter. He lives and works in Cardiff. Will Roberts’ paintings are highly narrative, layering references to historical methodology of painting and contemporary culture.
E M I LY U N S W O R T H W H I T E “Heaven collapses into earth in ‘Thin Places’. The sky reflects and refracts, bodies dissipate into the heavens. Floating is flying, collective months of hardship relinquished in the baptism of water.” During the spring and summer months Emily documented the wild swimming reawakening; the euphoric reunion of the population at waters’ edges. A marriage of skin and water, rivers and lakes held moments of play and bliss in solitude.' 'Emily’s current work connects, tender togetherness, immersion in place and people. Aspiring towards an abstract lack of definition full of rippling possibilities, as interpretable and infinite as the surface of water. A celebration of being and belonging, Emily aims to leave the receiver with serene glimpses of the flow and flux of life. Her first collection of oils on linen, colour is applied and removed, leaving just a memory of the paint on fabric. Emily Unsworth White studied Fine Art at the Cardiff Metropolitan University, graduating in 2016. Now she frequently returns to Cardiff and Wales, a second home and place of great inspiration. Over the last year Emily has spent much time along the south west coastlines, marvelling at the wildness and tranquility which has often inspired the beginnings of new works.
P L AT E 1
P L AT E 2
P L AT E 3
P L AT E 4
P L AT E 5
P L AT E 6
P L AT E 7
P L AT E 8
P L AT E 9
P L AT E 1 0
P L AT E 1 1
P L AT E 1 2
P L AT E 1 3
P L AT E 1 4
P L AT E 1 5
P L AT E 1 6
P L AT E 17
P L AT E 1 8
P L AT E 1 9
P L AT E 2 0
P L AT E 2 1
P L AT E 2 2
P L AT E 2 3
P L AT E 2 4
P L AT E 2 5
L I S T O F P L AT E S 1
Untitled 2021 (Stalker), Acrylic on Canvas, 92 x 82 cms Jo Berry
14 Interruption, Oil on Clayboard, 38 x 30 cms Tess Gray
2
Untitled 2021 (the Zone), Acrylic on Canvas, 90 x 120 cms Jo Berry
15 Valenda Tree, Oil on 4 Panels, 200 x 62 cms Susan Adams
3
Afloat, Oil on Canvas, 44 x 43.5 cms Richard James
16 If I Had a Hi Fi, Acrylic on Panel, 165 x 201 cms Will Roberts
4
Swimmer, Oil on Board, 64 x 73 cms Richard James
17 Live Not on Evil, Acrylic on Panel, 165 x 201 cms Will Roberts
5
Build a Rod, Oil on Canvas, 45 x 45 cms Zena Blackwell
18 Vandal, Oil on Canvas, 100 x 80 cms Susan Adams
6 Loose adventure, Oil on Canvas, 75 x 100 cms Zena Blackwell
19 Transmission III, Oil on Panel, 50 x 60 cms Susan Adams
7
20 Transmission VI, Oil on Panel, 50 x 60 cms Susan Adams
Anywhere: Somewhere, Oil on Canvas, 60 x 45 cms Zena Blackwell
8 Sleep, Oil on Linen, 22 x 27.5 cms Emily Unsworth White
21 Transmission V, Oil on Panel, 50 x 60 cms Susan Adams
9 Float, Oil on Linen, 21.5 x 27.5 cms Emily Unsworth White
22 High Vermilion and Violet, Oil on Canvas, 35 x 30 cms Charlotte Brisland
10 Swimming with Lillies, Oil on Linen, 53 x 62 cms Emily Unsworth White
23 Lucazade Light, Suburban Rituals, Oil on Canvas, 35 x 30 cms Charlotte Brisland
11 Surface, Oil on Linen, 22 x 27.5 cms Emily Unsworth White
24 Blue and Cream, Oil on Canvas, 35 x 30 cms Charlotte Brisland
12 Submerged, Oil on Linen, 22 x 27.5 cms Emily Unsworth White
25 Wilderness Rose and Vintage Umber, Oil on Canvas, 35 x 30 cms Charlotte Brisland
13 Gable Dormer, Oil on Panel, 68.5 x 53 cms Tess Gray
CARDIFF MADE WOULD LIKE TO THANK Susan Adams, Jo Berry, Zena Blackwell, Charlotte Brisland, Tess Gray, Richard James, Will Roberts, Emily Unsworth White, Zoë Gingell, Cerys Thomas, Lucia Jones, Josh Leeson, The Arts Council of Wales and everyone who comes to see the exhibition.
W W W. C A R D I F F M A D E . C O M