Fourteen - the artists' response to the Centenary of WW1

Fourteen

Front Cover: Ruth Harries – Red Cross Series

Fourteen The artists’ response to the centenary of World War One

Becky Adams, Iwan Bala, Sarah Ball, Peter Bodenham, Anne Gibbs, David Greenslade, Ruth Harries, Rozanne Hawksley, Buddug Humphreys, Alice Kettle, John Selway, Peter Spriggs, Laura Thomas, Stephen West.

A Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre Exhibition 2014

Image kindly provided courtesy of the Torfaen Museum Trust

Wales at War 1914 - 1918 The outbreak of World War One came on

with us today. The images of the trenches,

28th July 1914, within weeks all the major

the poems and first-hand accounts, the

powers were at war and the conflict soon

cards and letters sent home to loved ones,

spread around the world. Expected to last

the list of names on cenotaphs in every

a few months it dragged on for four years

town are the images which remind us of this

with more than 70 million military personnel

appalling conflict.

being mobilised in one of the largest wars in history. Technological advances and the

To mark the centenary of the onset of World

increasing industrialisation of war meant it

War One Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre

became also one of the deadliest conflicts

has invited fourteen contemporary artists

in world history with 9 million deaths. The

to create work which reflects their thoughts

upheaval of the war paved the way for major

on the centenary. The artists selected are

political changes and ultimately the map

mainly, either born in Wales or currently

of Europe was redrawn. However it is the

resident in Wales, and work in a range of

huge personal cost to the men and women

media from ceramics to textiles, paintings

affected by this war that most resonates

and mixed media.

Hedd Wyn, Iwan Bala, Mixed media, Indian Khadi Paper (2014) detail

All have interpreted the brief in their own

element of the blanket’s pattern and colour

very individual way and provided personal

represent and honour individual family

statements to sit alongside the work.

members and the many complex ways in which their relationships were impacted by

Several artists have chosen to honour and

the war.

reflect upon their forbears who either fought in the war or who were indirectly affected by

Three of the exhibiting artists have

it. Becky Adams uses delicate sewing skills

chosen to base their exhibits around the

to create textile facsimiles of her relatives’

Welsh poet Hedd Wyn (Ellis Humphrey

war medals – the very act of her making the

Evans) who was killed during the Battle of

items provided much opportunity for solace

Passchendale and, just a few weeks later,

and reflection.

was posthumously awarded the bard’s chair at the 1917 National Eisteddfod. Iwan Bala

Laura Thomas’ traditional woven blanket

combines Hedd Wyn’s poetry with maps

encapsulates the comfort, warmth and

of the battlefield to create a memorial to

envelopment of a close family while each

those killed on both sides; his inclusion of

Black chairs, David Greenslade, detail

a chair draped in black cloth recreates the

after long periods of conflict while Ruth

unique awarding of the ‘Cadair Ddu’ at the

Harries’ ‘Red Cross Series’ jointly honours

1917 Eisteddfod.

the work of the Red Cross Organisation and the essential role that women performed

Conversely Peter Spriggs focusses the

during the conflict.

youth, life and hope in Hedd Wyn’s poetry into his abstract painting while David

Sarah Ball’s ‘Damaged Human’ could be

Greenslade combines the iconography of

a combatant from any war. The apparent

the Cadair Ddu with images of individuals

physical and psychological scars act as

with connections to the war; together they

a counterpoint to the anonymity of his

are framed as postage stamps as a tribute

identity and place in time.

to the letter form.

Peter Bodenham’s ‘Commemorative Cups’ John Selway’s ‘Angel of Mons’ reminds us of

represent conflict up to the modern day,

the smoke and mirrors, misinformation and

reflecting the artist’s humble gratitude to

elaboration which can arise both during and

the soldiers and civilians who gave their

The Angel of Mons, John Selway. Oil on canvas (2014), detail

lives coupled with his revulsion at the scale

‘In Whose Name’, comprising thirteen

of the slaughter. The horror of the war and

found objects crucified through their

fragility of the peace come across both in

palms, delivers a clear and powerful anti-

the imagery, shape and in the materials

war message.

used in the manufacture of the cups where damage has been deliberately introduced.

The main gallery is dominated by Alice Kettle’s six metre long ‘Homage to ‘Guernica’.

‘Overhead’ by Anne Gibbs is based on early

Designed to be hung either horizontally

aerial observation balloons, the flimsiness

or vertically the work looks at the shift of

and vulnerability of these hydrogen laden

perspective from horizontal to the vertical

amorphous behemoths mirrored by the

as with Picasso’s Guernica which contains

stark delicacy and fragility of the porcelain.

symbols that change or appear when viewed from an alternative angle. The suggestion

The frailty of the human condition, injustice

is that war is a matter of perspective

and suffering resonate from the powerful

which can be changed and shifted through

work of Rozanne Hawksley. The installation

an adjustment in attitude; if

not the

Black chairs, David Greenslade, detail

consequence is powerfully destructive.

modelled using Gaudier-Brzeska’s roughhewn, primitive style of direct carving and

Buddug Humphreys work for ‘Fourteen’

expresses both the feeling of the new

is inspired by the notion of the ‘Make do

abstraction and primitivism that emerged

and mend’ ethos that the population had

in pre-war London, the conflict between

to live by during the war. Her plates have

nature and abstraction and the threat to

inspirational quotes inscribed into the

humanity by machines.

enamel to represent the hope of many people that were left behind when family

Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre are grateful

members and friends went to war.

to all the artists for contributing work to ‘Fourteen’. We hope the exhibition will, in

Stephen West has chosen to respond to

equal part, remember the fallen of all sides,

works made by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska the

provoke opinion, challenge views, educate

iconoclastic French artist killed during

and inform while at the same time inspire

an attack on a German-occupied French

and celebrate contemporary Welsh artists

village in 1915. ‘Modernist Sculpture’ is

and makers. July 2014

War Medals, Becky Adams, Stitched textile (2014)

Becky Adams Artist Statement “I work in the realm of textiles and book art.

Some of these medals are depicted in

I combine stitched paper, vintage fabrics,

stitched textile, as a personal response

diary extracts and antique ephemera to

that considers the war from a very human

create a tangible and tactile link to past

perspective.

experience.

I find much solace in hand stitching, it is a A sense of narrative pervades my work

contemplative process that brings a sense

and the subject matter itself derives from

of peace.

selected fragments, excerpts and assembled details from a particular time and place.

It also offers a quiet place to stop and reflect.

I have chosen to work with war medals that are still treasured within our family – those of my Great Grandfather on the maternal side and Great Uncle on my paternal side.

Lest we forget.�

Tiny Stitches, Becky Adams, Stitched textile (2014)

Becky Adams Biography Becky Adams is an applied artist based

Her work appears in several private and

in Penarth and has been practising art

public collections, including the Wexford

professionally for the last fifteen years. She

Artists Book Collection (Ireland), the V&A

studied Fine Art and English Literature in

and Tate Gallery.

Liverpool before a period of travel around the Middle East. She later undertook her MA in Book Arts at Camberwell College of Art. Past residencies include Ruthin Craft Centre, King’s Lynn Museum, Queenswood School and Chitraniketan, Kerala (Southern India). Becky’s work is centred on textile and book art which provides a tangible and tactile link to past experience and her love of storytelling.

Hedd Wyn, Iwan Bala, Mixed media, Indian Khadi Paper (2014)

Iwan Bala Artist Statement several

My work for this exhibition is a memorial for

documentaries and lectures on the origins

one of the millions killed on both sides, the

of World War One, I am of the opinion that

poet Ellis Humphrey Evans (Hedd Wyn) from

it was an unfortunate, tragic but inevitable

Trawsfynydd near Bala, who was killed in the

war. The Kaiser’s ambitions were not

first few early morning hours of the Third

dissimilar to Hitler’s in its world dominating

Battle of Ypres on the 31 of July 1917, aged

scope. The consequences however were

thirty. He fell near the village of Pilckem, having

dire for all involved, and the devastation of

been hit in the stomach by a ‘nosecap’ shell.

Germany led inexorably to the rise of Hitler

There were 31,000 Allied fatalities that day. A

and the Nazis, with its concomitant hatred

few weeks later, at the National Eisteddfod of

for the Jews and Liberals who were somehow

Wales held in Birkenhead, he was announced

blamed for the capitulation of Germany.

as the winner of the Bardic Chair for his awdl

In Russia, it gave rise to Stalin, an equally

‘Yr Arwr’ (The Hero), and in his absence, the

brutal totalitarian ogre.

chair was draped in black. The drawing shows

“Having

recently

watched

a map of the field of battle, and incorporates two poems that he wrote about the war. ‘

Hedd Wyn’ (‘Blessed Peace’) was his pen name for the Eisteddfod competition, and he is remembered in Wales as a symbol of that lost generation of young men.

The chair here presented under a black sheet, is not a Bardic chair, but is a chair made by my grandfather. Though he was not a combattant, he was of the same generation as all those who lost their lives. His main contribution to the war effort was to find and return his cousin to the Military, when, several times, he went AWOL; an appropriate reaction to the horror of the war I would think. He survived.”

Hedd Wyn, Iwan Bala, Mixed media, Indian Khadi Paper (2014) detail

Iwan Bala Biography Iwan Bala is an established artist, writer and lecturer based in Wales. He has held solo exhibitions annually since 1990, participated in many group exhibitions in Wales and abroad and is represented in public and private collections. His work was exhibited in four Chinese cities in 2009. He has published books and essays on contemporary art in Wales and is a frequent lecturer on the subject. He has often presented and been interviewed for television. Iwan Bala is cited in most published compilations on contemporary art in Wales.

Soldier (American Civil War), Sarah Ball, Oil on Panel (2014)

Sarah Ball Artist Statement “This painting is one in a series of paintings

‘A human being is a part of the whole called

exploring the notion of the ‘Damaged

by us universe.... he experiences himself, his

Human’.

thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of

Sitting for an official medical photograph,

his consciousness. This delusion is a kind

without uniform and with head shaved this

of prison for us... Our task must be to free

young man could belong to any age and

ourselves from this prison by widening our

be fighting in any conflict. His injuries both

circle of compassion....’ Albert Einstein”

visible and hidden.

The photograph resides in the American National Archive.

What does a portrait represent? Can a portrait ever claim to capture the identity of the sitter beyond the superficial?

Soldier (American Civil War), Sarah Ball, Oil on Panel (2014) detail

Sarah Ball Biography Sarah Ball grew up in South Yorkshire and

natural world and objects gathered from my

studied at Newport Art College. After

immediate surroundings - the sources are

working in London throughout the late

recast, creating new characters in imagined

80’s and 90s, she returned to Wales to

scenarios”.

concentrate solely on her painting and completed an MFA at Bath Spa University in 2005. She lives with her family in the Monmouthshire countryside.

“My work is that of the gatherer; a curator of objects and ideas that are concerned with the visual language of the storyteller.

My paintings allude to fable and allegory - sourced from museum curios, Victorian taxidermy, studio and police photography, anthologies and collections from the

Commemorative Cups, Peter Bodenham, Black clay earthenware with white slip underglaze printing decal and lustre.

Peter Bodenham Artist Statement “As a teenager in Cardigan School, every year

gratitude to the soldiers and civilians who

on Armistice Day the English teacher made

gave their lives coupled with my revulsion

all the students read aloud in turn, the book

at the scale of the slaughter. The making

‘All Quiet on The Western Front’, a 1929

process started with throwing cups on

classic novel about World War One. During

the potter’s wheel, attaching decorative

this annual ritual reading, her response was

handles and then dipping the pots in slip.

to weep and point at the boys and say “you

Several stages followed involving drawing

will be the first to go, my lovely boys”. At

into leather hard clay, printing silk screened

the time we all found this theatrical but

images onto potters tissue and transferring

very genuine performance highly amusing,

them onto the cups before the first firing.

but on reflection it had a profound effect

Photographic digital transfers and lustre

on myself, and understanding of the Great

were applied involving two subsequent

War.

firings. Some of the cups were purposefully damaged, either dropped on the floor or

The series of commemorative cups made for ‘Fourteen’ reflect both my humble

shot with an air rifle by my younger son.

The research for his project was at times upsetting as I read through current newspaper reports of families who have lost their children in more recent conflicts like Afghanistan. The images on the surface of the cups are stock photographic pictures from WW1 juxtaposed with extracts from letters and newspaper reports about more recent military campaigned and peacekeeping operations.�

Commemorative Cups, Peter Bodenham, Black clay earthenware with white slip underglaze printing decal and lustre.

Peter Bodenham Biography Peter Bodenham is a potter and visual artist who studied at Camberwell School of Art before completing an MA in Fine Art at UWIC, Cardiff.

Peter’s ideas are drawn from and about the phenomenology of everyday objects and the museum artefact. Inspiration is often driven by journeys on foot through rural landscapes. Although he acknowledges the cultural distinctions between fine art, design and craft, his work often sits between these cultural traditions.

Peter lives and works in West Wales Cardigan and is Head of Ceramics Department at

Coleg Sir Gar.

Overhead, Anne Gibbs, Porcelain (2014)

Anne Gibbs Artist Statement “To mark the centenary of the World War

targets. Pilots regarded bringing down

One, I have chosen to respond to old

an observational balloon as a hazardous

photographs of Observation Balloons that

occupation but a valid victory. Those with

were commonly used as aerial platforms to

a successful list of destroying the balloons

gather information and artillery spotting by

were described as ‘balloon busters’. “

the allies and Germans on the Western Front.

These balloons were made from fabric, filled with hydrogen gas and attached to a winch with steel cables. An observer would sit in a wicker basket suspended underneath the balloon usually carrying a radio, flags, binoculars and a long-range camera. His job was to observe actions on the front line, spot enemy troop movements and call down artillery fire on worthwhile targets. These balloons were vulnerable and dangerous

Lost and Found , Anne Gibbs, Porcelain (2014) detail

Anne Gibbs Biography Anne Gibbs lives and works in Cardiff. She

of Wales and has been artist in residency

studied Fine Art, specialising in printmaking

at Cove Park, Scotland, The Clay Studio,

(1994) and she undertook postgraduate

Philadelphia, USA and the Afan Forest Park,

courses in teacher training, PGCE (FE)

Wales.

(1999) and a master’s degree in Ceramics (2004) at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff. Anne has worked as a freelance artist in many facets of art and design, working to public commissions, teaching and lecturing in schools, universities and communities throughout South Wales.

Anne has exhibited both nationally and internationally, including Greece, Canada, Korea and America. In 2009 she received a Creative Wales Award from the Arts Council

Black Chairs, David Greenslade, Ink and Paper (2014)

David Greenslade Artist Statement “1914 is stored in the collective memory

posthumously awarded the Bardic Chair

in many ways.

Letters from writers and

at the Birkenhead Eisteddfod of 1917. His

artists who were in the war is one of them.

name was announced and the Chair draped

Guillaume Appolinaire in particular allowed

in black cloth.

envelopes to actually shape the substance

figures associated with the 1914 period, also

of his writing. Letters home were central to

included are literary figures born in 1914.�

the stories of Edward Thomas, David Jones and many more. The images here, framed as postage stamps, are a tribute to the letter form.

The piece is called Black Chairs. Meirionydd poet Hedd Wyn (Ellis Humphrey Evans, 1887-1917) was killed during the Battle of Passchendale, along with at least half a million others. Six weeks later he was

This panel shows fourteen

Black Chairs, David Greenslade, Ink and Paper (2014) detail

David Greenslade Biography David Greenslade is a writer who works with visual artists. Recent books include Rarely Pretty Reasonable (Dark Windows Press, 2013) with over thirty artists, and Y Gwiblu Brith (Dark Windows Press, 2014) with John Welson. He has worked closely with artists such as William Brown (Dark Fairground), Peter Hay (Creosote) and Keith Bayliss (Zeus Amoeba). He writes in Welsh and English.

Red Cross Series, Ruth Harries, Mixed Media (2014)

Ruth Harries Artist Statement “The ‘Red Cross Series’ produced for this

WW1, organizing the constant supply of

exhibition, reflects on the invaluable work

clothing for soldiers on the frontline and in

of the Red Cross Organization and the role

hospitals. Many essential knitted and sewn

of women during WW1.

items were produced at home; from socks to patient’s operation gowns. It is this work;

More than a million women joined the

the skills employed and the act of repeated

workforce during the War; changing their

process that I have considered in the ‘Red

lives and society’s view of their status

Cross Series’.

thereafter. Working in the dangerous munitions factories, driving ambulances,

These works resonate on a wider basis too,

nursing, as mechanics and in upholstering,

not only referencing the labour involved

trimming and other skilled operatives; jobs

but also the standing of soldiers, side by

previously done by men.

side; tied together, united, regimental and scarred.”

The Red Cross was instrumental in helping soldiers survive the appalling conditions in

Red Cross Series, Ruth Harries, Mixed Media (2014) detail

Ruth Harries Biography Textile and mixed media artist Ruth Harries lives and works in Cardiff, after studying Textile Print at Cardiff College. She won the overall award for Welsh Artist of the Year in 2008 and has represented Wales at the Festival Interceltique de L’Orient in France.

Ruth

has

exhibited

nationally

and

internationally including France, Holland, Sweden, Netherlands the,USA and Ireland.

She has shown widely in group shows, including Pfaff Art Embroidery London the National Eisteddfod of Wales, Welsh Contemporaries in London and numerous exhibitions with the Fibre Art Wales Group.

She has received commissions including from

British Council and the National Trust.

Caiphus , Rozanne Hawksley, Wreath of cream silk, ribbon, small bones, pearls, shell and thread (2007)

Rozanne Hawksley Artist Statement “For some years I have attempted, through

William Blake for a traitor. Importantly the

observation and experiences, to make work

words by Alan Bennett in Act II of “Forty

covering the themes of life: love, loss, war

Years On,” his first play, continue to ring true

and suffering, isolation, injustice through

and inspired this piece. He speaks of “the

increasing misuse of power. This comes into

thoughtless progress of the new civility…

visualisation by focussing on the individual;

The hedges come down from the fields…

the frailty of the human condition often

.A butterfly is an event…man is killing all

with those small, often quiet details which

nature including himself.”

signify that individual.

The work ‘In Whose Name?’ – merely I use any and all materials but select ONLY

questions the ‘Why’ for the un-reasoned,

those that are absolutely right for what I’m

pointless wars. For the self -power,

trying to say.

vengeance and the need for a scapegoat. In whose name indeed.

‘Caiphus’ – a wreath mourning the death of nature carries the name sometimes used by

The piece is made of thirteen found

gloves, one ornate and un-touched, the twelve others crucified through the palms onto rough wood. The one hung upside down indicates a whistle blower, an objector, a Judas.�

In Whose Name , Rozanne Hawksley

Rozanne Hawksley Biography Born in the naval town Portsmouth in 1931,

Goldsmiths College in the 1970s, that she

Rozanne Hawksley was a wartime evacuee

began using textiles and needlework as an

and grew up at a time when many were

art form. Widely acknowledged as having

mourning those who never returned from

played a significant role in the development

the sea. She has drawn from that and other

of interdisciplinary textile teaching, research

personal experiences in her work. Having

and scholarship, her contribution to the

trained at the Royal College of Art in the

ground-breaking 1988 exhibition, The

1950s, where she became part of a group

Subversive Stitch, is regarded as seminal.

that included Lucien Freud, Francis Bacon and

Rozanne’s work has attracted the attention

John Minton, she moved to America. Whilst

of critics and collectors alike and her work

there, Rozanne undertook commissions for

has appeared in shows across Britain and

Eleanor Roosevelt and the Kennedy family,

Europe. She has also exhibited in Japan and

and also designed for the Women’s Home

the United States.

Industries, the post-war project created by Lady Reading. But it was after her return to Britain and a postgraduate course at

Hand forged enamel plate, Buddug Wyn Humphreys

Buddug Wyn Humphreys Artist Statement “My work for the show ‘Fourteen’ is inspired by the notion of the ‘Make do and mend’ ethos that the population had to live by during the war. I’m always trying to combine or give a new life to objects that people no longer seem to want.

My plates have inspirational quotes inscribed into the enamel to represent the hope of many people that were left behind when family members and friends went to war.”

Hand forged enamel plate, Buddug Wyn Humphreys, detail

Buddug Wyn Humphreys Biography Buddug likes creating things in many different

literature finds its way into her work and she

materials. She sources different materials of

makes her own interpretation of traditions

various textures that she finds intriguing

such as the ‘Welsh Love Spoon’.

and creates objects with these materials in unusual combinations. Sketching/drawing and writing form a large part of her work. She enjoys combining these so that the writing not only has a meaning within the words themselves but that it becomes an integral part of the drawing itself. At present her work specializes in using enamel on metal; by drawing and writing onto layers of the enamel the boundaries of this traditional process are expanded. She finds strong inspiration from her native Welsh language and culture. Inspiring Welsh and English

Loss, Homage to Guernica, Alice Kettle , Fabric and thread (2011)

Alice Kettle Artist Statement “Loss, Homage to Guernica” reflects on

Alice Kettle’s work is rooted in the narrative

war and on conflict. The work looks at the

of thread, the manner in which a tensile line

shift of perspective from horizontal to the

can describe relationships and connections

vertical as with Picasso’s Guernica which

with other material places. Sometimes the

contains symbols which change or appear

work is pictorial, reminiscent of the linear

when viewed from an alternative angle.

story line of the Bayeaux tapestry. At other

The suggestion is that war is a matter of

times a thread holds the work together to

perspective which can be changed and

draw and reconstruct into a patched and

shifted through an adjustment in attitude.

collaged form. Many works connect with

If not the consequence is powerfully

stories, those with universal truths, the

destructive. The simple device of alteration

repeated patterns of mythology and the

from the vertical to horizontal and vice

emotional touch of textile.

versa is used to denote life, and death, of destruction and reconstruction. The work

Alice is also producing a growing body of

is meant to change and be viewed either

collaborative work, the group of 20 jugs

horizontally or vertically.

‘Treasure in Earthen vessels’ are made with

ceramicist Alex McErlain. They are part of an on-going and shared journey of exploration and echo the terracotta army who stand or fall.

Homage to Guernica, Alice Kettle , Fabric and thread (2011) detail

Alice Kettle Biography Alice Kettle is a contemporary textile/fibre

Arti Applicate Oggi, Turin, Italy.

artist based in the UK. She has established a unique area of practice by her use of

Alice

is

Senior

Research

a craft medium, consistently and on an

Manchester

unparalleled scale.

Manchester Metropolitan University and

School

of

Art,

Fellow

at

MIRIAD,

Visiting Professor at the Centre for Real Her stitched works, many of which are the size of huge figurative tapestries, exploit the textures and effects made possible through the harnessing of a mechanical process to intuitive and creative ends.

Her work is represented in various public collections such as the Crafts Council London, the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester, the Museo Internationale delle

World Learning University of Winchester.

The Angel of Mons, John Selway, Oil on Canvas (2014)

John Selway Artist Statement During the First World War thousands came

his short story, ‘The Bowmen’, was the true

to believe that a miracle had happened

source of the legend.

during the British Army’s first desperate battle with the advancing Germans at Mons

In May 1915 a full-blown controversy

in Belgium. In some versions a vision of St

erupted, with the angels being used in

George and phantom bowmen halted the

sermons as proof of the action of divine

German troops, while others claimed angels

providence on the side of the Allies before

had thrown a protective curtain around the

spreading into newspaper reports published

British, saving them from disaster.

widely across the world. Machen, bemused by all this, attempted to end the rumours

The battle of Mons took place on 23

by republishing the story in book form, with

August 1914 and within a few weeks the

a long preface stating the rumours were

‘angels of Mons’ had entered the realms of

false and originated in his story. It became

legend. Gothic horror writer Arthur Machen

a bestseller, and resulted in a vast series

maintained until his dying day that the

of other publications claiming to provide

Angel of Mons was fiction, believing that

evidence of the Angels’ existence. Machen

tried to set the record straight, but by the end of the war it became unpatriotic, even treasonable, to doubt that the claims were based on fact.

The Angel of Mons, John Selway. Oil on canvas (2014), detail

John Selway Biography John Selway is one of Wales’ leading artists.

He was brought up in Abertillery and attended Newport School of Art 1953-57 and Royal College of Art 1959-62. After a year painting in Portugal on a travelling scholarship he returned to live in Abertillery and teach at Newport College of Art. He became a member of 56 Group and shows extensively both at home and abroad.

The Arts Council, Arts Council of Wales, National Museum of Wales in Cardiff and a number of public galleries in Wales and England hold his work, as does Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa.

Hedd Wyn, Peter Spriggs, Oil on canvas (2014)

Peter Spriggs Artist Statement Orseddau brenhinoedd byd,

“The piece of work is about Hedd Wyn,

Deyrnasoedd daear i gyd

the Welsh romantic and War poet who lost

Dan dynged rhyw frwydr o hyd,

his life in the Great War in the Battle of

Cewch farw neu ddechrau byw.

Pilkern Ridge, the third Battle of Ypres in 1917. Hedd Wyn won the Chair for his ode,

Di, filwr, saf ar dy draed,

“Yr Arwr. The Hero”, at the 1917 National

Bydd barod i golli;’h waed,

Eisteddfod of Wales in Birkenhead. Tragically,

Cans o’r frwydr erwinaf caed

he was wounded in action and died soon

Pob gwynfa sy heddiw’n rhydd.

afterwards, before he was informed of his achievement.

O “Wedi’r Frwydr” gan Hedd Wyn From “After the Battle” by Hedd Wyn

His prize chair has become widely known as “Cadair Ddu Birkenhead. The Black Chair of Birkenhead”. The painting tells the story of a tragic young man who went, reluctantly, in the line of duty to defend his country, lose his life and leave a poem. It will encapsulate the things Hedd Wyn stood for; youth. life, hope. I will paint the shadow of Hedd Wyn and the poetry he left - that is the shining sun.”

Hedd Wyn, Peter Spriggs, Oil on canvas (2014) detail

Peter Spriggs Biography Peter Spriggs was born in Cardiff. He was

He has shown work in all Painting - Ysbryd

awarded First Class Honours in BA Fine Art

/ Spirit Wales exhibitions throughout

at Cardiff Metropolitan University and MA

the 1990’s and 2000’s and also with 56

from the Painting School, Royal College

Group Wales. Recently he has worked in

of Art London. He is currently a Lecturer

printmaking as well as painting and is one

in Fine Art at the University of Trinity St.

of Swansea Print Workshop’s Directors. An

David, Coleg Sir Gar where he has worked

on-going project involves producing a series

extensively with mature students. He is

of print-portraits of one hundred poets and

the recipient of Arts Council of Wales

writers in Wales. On completion, this will

Awards: Travel Award - Barcelona and a

provide the visual material for a planned

Creative Wales Award - Canada. A Lecturers

publication.

International

Programme

Development

facilitated another trip to Canada as a Visiting Lecturer at Ontario College of Art and Design and the University of Waterloo, Ontario.

Gifford Blanket, Laura Thomas, Handwoven Wool (2014)

Laura Thomas Artist Statement For this exhibition, Laura celebrates her love

was born. Although Nina grew up knowing

of Welsh blankets by hand weaving a blanket

of her siblings, they were rarely mentioned

in memory of her great uncle William Roy

and she never met her sister.

Gifford who lost his life in the First World War, and also his younger sister, Ivy. Every

The blanket is a handwoven double cloth

death as result of war is tragic and heart

an iconic method of creating traditional

breaking for loved ones and Laura has always

Welsh blankets famed the world over. The

been haunted by this element of her family

decision to make a blanket was deliberate

history. Ivy was so profoundly traumatised

due to its symbolism of being indicative of

by the loss of her brother in the war, that

nurture, protection and the envelopment

she was institutionalised in her teens and

of loved ones. Its colour and pattern is

spent the rest of her life in a care home,

muted but rhythmic and has been created

dying aged 60. Their mother was advised

as a meditation on loss, absence and not

by the family doctor that the best way to

knowing. “The shapes are based on the

overcome her grief was to have another

ages lived by my grandmother, her brother

child, and thus Laura’s grandmother Nina

and sister. Roy died aged 19 in the war

and is represented by the red block. The adjoining block in khaki/brown represents Ivy who lived to 60. My grandmother Nina is the fawn block, who lived to 88. That block is separate to Roy and Ivy as she never met them.�

Gifford Blanket, Laura Thomas, Handwoven Wool (2014) detail

Laura Thomas Biography Laura Thomas is an award winning woven

technical research and freelance design

textile artist and designer specializing

consultancy. Laura is also the Joint Course

in producing striking textile artworks for

Leader for the BA Textiles: knit, weave &

contemporary spaces. Born and brought

mixed media course in Coleg Sir G창r.

up in Pembrokeshire, Laura studied woven textiles in the University of Central England, The Royal College of Art, and then on to become one of the founding Fellows of The Ann Sutton Foundation, a weave design research centre in Sussex.

Since completing her Fellowship in 2003, Laura established her textile art and design studio in South Wales, and has been dividing her time between public and private art commissions, exhibition work, curation,

Modernist Sculpture, Stephen West, Limestone (2014)

Stephen West Artist Statement “The work I have made to represent

the feeling of the new abstraction and

‘Fourteen’ was carved in France this year

primitivism that emerged in pre-war London,

from a soft piece of limestone. It is one of

the conflict between nature and abstraction

a series of works which respond to works

and the threat to humanity by machines.

made by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska in 1914.

This iconoclastic French artist was 23 years

It is quite small like many of Gaudier’s works in

old when he was killed during an attack

1914 and recalls both his brass door knocker

on a German-occupied village in northern

with its abstract and sexual symbolism as

France on June 5 1915. He left the London

well as his desire to make modern Venus

art scene to enlist in 1914 and in his nine

and Madonna images. He lived in Cardiff

months of trench fighting he produced small

as a 17 year old student where his interest

pieces of soft stone shaped with a penknife

in drawing from nature and his distinctive

and a Maternity carved from the butt of a

expressive line began to develop - the

stolen Mauser rifle - all lost.

National Museum in Cardiff now holds an important group of his sculptures. My work

‘Modernist Sculpture’ 2014 expresses both

uses the female form as powerful nature and

is abstracted to an almost brutal extent to represent the conflict between the mother image and technological and primitive war.

The death of Henri Gaudier-Brzeska was one huge loss amongst countless huge losses to human civilization brought about by the 1914-18 war.�

Modernist Sculpture, Stephen West, Limestone (2014)

Stephen West Biography Stephen West is an experienced artist,

Cymru Artworks Wales and Head of the

lecturer, curator and writer working at

Residency Programme.

Dolpebyll Mid-Wales. Born in 1952 in Henley-on-Thames, he trained as a painter at St Martins School of Art and Royal College of Art. He has been a fine art lecturer gallery education officer, exhibition curator and public art commissioner. He has also been a regular exhibiting artist with several one-person shows and group shows such as 56 Group, National Eisteddfod, Jerwood Drawing prize, Hunting/Observer prize and Spectator/Adam prize. He was Director Creative Development for Safle, public arts organisation for Wales, from 2007 to 2008 and previously Co-Director for Cywaith

Overhead, Anne Gibbs, Porcelain (2014) detail

‘Fourteen’ A Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre Exhibition.

We would like to thank all the makers who have allowed us to exhibit their work in ‘Fourteen’.

Translator: Heddwen Pugh-Evans Design: Hillview Design Published by Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre. Text LGAC 2014 Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre St.David’s Road Cwmbran Torfaen NP441PD T: +44(0)1633 483321 E: info@lgac.org.uk W: www.lgac.org.uk Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre is part of the Arts Council of Wales portfolio of Revenue Funded Organisations.

Registered Charity no: 1006933 Company Limited by Guarantee no: 2616241 Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre is funded by the Arts Council of Wales, Torfaen County Borough Council and Monmouthshire County Council.

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