Two exhibitions by Cwilt Cymru have recently opened at venues in Wales.
Cynefin is showing at the Minerva Arts Centre in Llanidloes Powys as part of the Welsh Connection summer exhibition until September 8th (Tues-Sat).
Our newest collection, Olion/Traces is showing with Cysylltiad/Connection at Swansea Museum as part of the Swansea Festival of Stitch until August 24th. The Festival has a wide programme of exhibitions and events across several venues in the city.
The new Cwilt Cymru exhibition, Traces / Olion, has opened at Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery and runs to March 31st. Here are a few pictures of the gallery and the preview – the snow prevented many of us from attending on the day but Judy Fairless and Mags Ramsay were there to represent us and greet visitors.
Timeline Nature/Nurture
Sarah Thomas Gwyneth Thomas Vera Davies
We all carry traces of our ancestors in our DNA. We also carry other traces – characteristics, skills, behaviours, strengths and weaknesses handed down from one generation to another. These pieces examine how such traces have been handed down through the female line in my own family.
Cottons & silk organza hand dyed and dye-painted by me; transfer adhesive painted with acrylic; free machine quilted.
Cariwn oll olion ein hynafiaid yn ein DNA. Cariwn olion eraill hefyd – nodweddion, sgiliau, ymddygiad, cryfderau a gwendidau, a drosglwyddir o un genhedlaeth i’r nesaf. Mae’r darnau hyn yn edrych ar sut mae olion o’r fath wedi trosglwyddo i lawr trwy linach fenywaidd fy nheulu.
Cotwm ac organza sidan wedi eu llifo a’u peintio gen i; glud trosglwyddadwy gyda phaent acrylic; cwiltio peiriant rhydd.
Gadael ôl
(Leaving marks)
We leave our marks wherever we tread. Those who came before us left their own marks. The land itself leaves its mark.
Dykes and ramparts, borders and boundaries, footpaths and roads: visible, and hidden, marks in the landscape, and on the map.
The iron-rich shale stones of the hills leave their own black marks.
So needle and thread leave marks, visible and hidden.
Inspired by the landscape of my home – Bryniau Clwyd and their Iron Age hillforts.
[Silk organza marked by stones; hand dyed vintage cotton; hand-stitched silk thread]
Gadawn ein holion ble bynnag y troediwn. Gadawodd y cenedlaethau o’n blaenau eu holion hwythau. Mae’r tir ei hun yn gadael ei hôl.
Cloddiau a muriau, ffiniau a therfynau, llwybrau a ffyrdd: marciau gweladwy, a chuddiedig, ar y tirlun, ac ar y map.
Mae cerrig shâl llawn haearn o’r bryniau yn gadael eu holion duon eu hunain.
Felly mae nodwydd ac edau yn gadael olion, gweladwy a chuddiedig.
Wedi ei ysbrydoli gan dirlun fy mro – Bryniau Clwyd a’u bryngaerau o’r Oes Haearn.
[Organza sidan wedi ei farcio gan gerrig; hen gotwm wedi ei lifo â llaw; edau sidan wedi ei bwytho â llaw]
Beautiful Surfaces
Nietzsche once said, in a note to a friend, that ‘there are no beautiful surfaces without a terrible depth’. This pithy, almost throwaway, line, serves to demonstrate its own truth.
In this piece, the imagery speaks of the beautiful surfaces we present to the world which bear beneath them the traces of every encounter, and every experience, be they wonderful or terrifying. I once thought of my own mark made on the world as akin to footsteps in the sand – washed away and disappearing without trace on the next tide. Now I know that I hold traces of, and can be traced within, many beautiful surfaces.
Dywedodd Nietzche unwaith, mewn nodyn at ffrind, nad oes arwynebau hardd heb ddyfnder dychrynllyd. Mae’r linell fachog, bron ddi-feddwl, hon yn amlygu ei gwirionedd ei hun.
Yn y darn hwn, mae’r delweddu yn sôn am yr arwynebau hardd rydym yn cyflwyno i’r byd sy’n cario odditanynt olion o bob cyfarfod, a phob profiad, boed yn wych neu’n ddychrynllyd. Unwaith meddyliwn fod fy ôl fy hun ar y byd yn debyg i olion traed ar dywod – yn cael eu golchi ymaith ac yn diflannu gyda’r llanw nesaf. Bellach rwy’n gwybod fy mod yn dal olion sawl arwyneb hardd, ac fy mod i’w canfod ynddynt.
Transient
Thoughts put into writing are a frequent theme in my work.
The letters and documents of the past allow us a glimpse into other peoples’ lives but they are fleeting, trapped in the experiences and understanding of their own era. Writing fades with time and hides some of its secrets. Hand written passages are personal and we feel a desire to read them, while experiencing some guilt at the impropriety of prying into other peoples’ private thoughts.
The past chases us down the years.
Painted/Printed/Foiled/Stitched/Quilted
Byrhoedlog
Mae meddyliau ar ffurf ysgrifennu yn aml yn thema yn fy ngwaith.
Mae lythyrau a dogfennau’r gorffennol yn rhoi cipolwg inni i mewn i fywydau pobl eraill, ond maent yn ddiaros, wedi eu caethiwo ym mhrofiadau a dealltwriaeth eu cyfnod eu hunain. Mae ysgrifen yn pylu gydag amser ac yn cuddio rhai o’i chyfrinachau. Mae darnau o lawysgrifen yn bersonol ac rydym yn awyddus i’w darllen, tra’n teimlo peth euogrwydd wrth sbecian yn amhriodol i mewn i fywydau preifat pobl eraill.
Mae’r gorffennol yn ein ymlid trwy’r oesau.
Paent/Argraffu/Euro/Pwyth/Cwiltio
Fleet Mud Flats Shorelines Indigo Ripples
Memories of marks left by the action of water movement on sand and mud. Inspired by the transitional intertidal zones halfway between sea and shore along the Fleet (Dorset). Interpreted using indigo arashi shibori which itself retains the traces of pleats and folds from wrapping fabric around a pole for dyeing.
Atgofion am olion symudiadau dŵr ar dywod a llaid. Wedi eu hysbrydoli gan y llain symudol rhwng dau lanw, rhwng y môr a’r lan ar hyd afon Fleet (Dorset). Wedi eu dehongli gyda shibori indigo arashi sydd ei hun yn cadw olion o blygiadau o rwymo defnydd o gwmpas polyn i’w lifo.
Hidden Fractures
Inspired by accidental marks on cloth reminiscent of bone fractures and dislocations revealed through X-Rays and MRI scans. Detection depends on the interpretation of the viewer.
Wedi’w ysbrydoli gan farciau damweiniol ar ddefnydd oedd yn f’atgoffa o doriadau ac anafiadau esgyrn a ddatgelir gan belydr-x a sganiau MRI. Mae eu darganfod yn dibynnu ar ddehongliad y gwyliwr.
Ivy
Ivy Clinging
Ivy Climbing
Ivy Concealing
Ivy Dying
Ivy Disintegrating
Ivy Remaining
Iorwg
Iorwg yn Glynnu
Iorwg yn Dringo
Iorwg yn Cuddio
Iorwg yn Marw
Iorwg yn Dadfeilio
Iorwg yn Parhau
Cold Hearth & Plough Lines
History has left traces and remains all over the landscape. Sometimes these are walls and ruined buildings, sometimes fragments, and often just marks in the ground. Sometimes they just hint at lives we cannot imagine.
I use photographs and drawings of such remnants as the starting point for my work, interpreting them freely and using fabrics and threads which re-imagine the richness and colour of vanished cultures.
A photograph of a hearth uncovered by archaeology, and old crop lines overlaid by modern ploughing, provided starting points for the pieces shown here.
Aelwyd Oer & Llinellau Aradr
Mae hanes wedi gadael olion ar hyd y tirlun. Weithiau maent yn waliau ac adfeilion, weithiau darnau, ac yn aml dim ond marciau yn y tir. Weithiau maent yn awgrymu bywydau na allwn ni eu dychmygu.
Rwy’n defnyddio ffotgraffau a lluniau o’r math yma o olion fel man cychwyn i’m gwaith, yn eu dehongli yn rhydd ac yn defnyddio defnydd ac edau sy’n ail-ddychmygu cyfoeth a lliw y diwylliannau diflanedig.
Llun o aelwyd wedi ei dadorchudio gan archaeoleg, a hen linellau cnydau wedi eu gorchuddio gan aredig diweddar, oedd man cychwyn y darnau hyn.
Mardin 1 & Mardin 2
My inspiration always comes from a visual starting point. I am fascinated by pattern and all the techniques used to create it both on cloth and paper. In these hangings I have taken several of the decorations I saw in old buildings on a recent holiday in eastern Turkey as my motifs. The landscape is very barren, almost desert-like and the colours I have used reflect this. Because of the dry atmosphere, patterns left by the many ancient civilisations which peopled this area have been well preserved if a little damaged in places. My techniques hint at this slight disintegration. Mardin is the name of one of the old towns where these patterns were found.
Daw fy ysbrydoliaeth o fan cychwyn gweledol bob tro. Caf fy hudo gan batrwm a’r holl dechnegau o’i greu ar ddefnydd ac ar bapur. Yn y cwiltiau hyn rwyf wedi cymryd fel fy thema nifer o’r addurniadau a welais mewn hen adeiladau ar wyliau diweddar yn nwyrain Twrci. Mae’r tirlun yn llwm iawn, bron yn anialwch ac mae fy lliwiau yn adlewyrchu hyn. Oherwydd yr aer sych, mae’r patrymau a adawyd gan hen drefedigaethau yn yr ardal hon wedi goroesi, er wedi eu niweidio ychydig. Mae’r technegau a ddefnyddiais yn awgrymu’r dirywiad hwn. Yn nhref hynafol Mardin y gwelais y patrymau hyn.
Sumela
Sumela is an ancient monastery in eastern Turkey, dating back over a thousand years from its foundation. It showed traces of the once vibrant wall paintings on the walls of the chapel. These had been overlaid and marred by later religions who used graffiti to despoil the original Christian imagery. My own photographic imagery was the starting point for this piece.
Mynachlog hynfal yn nwyrain Twrci yw Sumela, yn dyddio nol dros fil o flynyddoedd. Ar waliau’r capel roedd olion murluniau a fu unwaith yn llachar. Fe’u gorchuddiwyd a’u malurio gan grefyddau canlynol a ddefnyddiodd graffiti i halogi’r delweddau Cristnogol gwreiddiol. Fy nelweddau ffotograffig fy hun oedd man cychwyn y darn hwn.
cwiltcymru 