Plas BrondanwSusan Williams-Ellis
Foundation (SWEF)
Foundation (SWEF)
post@susanwilliamsellis.org
01766 770590
post@susanwilliamsellis.org
01766 770590
Sifting and Combing
Christine Mills and Siw Thomas are artists in residence at Plas Brondanw this summer 2023. They are working together to explore the Williams-Ellis archives with a particular focus on the ideas and work of Amabel Williams-Ellis, the Croesor valley and its people. Public workshops are integral to their research and will inform the work they produce. The residency will be inspiration for an exhibition of their work at Plas Brondanw in September 2023.
The theme for this year’s Open is ‘Airbourne’ and our collections curator will be selecting works from the permanent collection to show alongside the contemporary works on display.
Implied abstract imagery reveals conflict between beauty and dereliction. Classical romanticism and postmodernism combine with clashing qualities of drawing and painting. Images develop through series of intuitive acts, repeated application of thin films of ink, paint and drawing materials give depth to this personal painterly language. Layers are often removed by scrubbing or scraping, revealing a palimpsest of faded marks and former painterly decisions, exposing the underbelly, vulnerable and tender.
For the purpose of this exhibition at Plas Brondanw some works on show will be created in direct reference to the fire which struck the house in 1951. Other works on display will reflect the theme of dereliction and decay of imagined places. By employing her own unique palette and processes to both sets of work Philippa aims to produce a body of work which displays a cohesive narrative throughout the exhibition.
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This was the Open exhibition planned for 2020, which opened for one day and then had to close due to the COVID 19 lockdown. Despite the restrictions and having to postpone the opening for two years, the exhibition was diverse, lively and is a wonderful way to relaunch our activities after a period of hibernation.
Sarah Nechamkin was born in 1917. She and Susan Williams-Ellis met as students at Chelsea School of Art during the 1930s, and remained friends throughout their lives. Sarah lived in Ibiza, where Susan and her husband Euan also spent much time. The Susan-Williams Ellis foundation is privileged to have inherited much of her work when she passed away in 2017. This was the first major exhibition of her work to have been held since her death.
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An exhibition of two halves, graduate and postgraduate by five artists from the Life Long learning course at Bangor University. The artists work varied greatly creating an eclectic show of painting, sculpture, installation and digital.
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This exhibition by Manon Awst combines sculptures, installations and creative research on the peat fens of Anglesey and Traeth Mawr, the former tidal estuary that lies before Plas Brondanw.
Thérèse’s work tries to bring the outside in, evoking a feeling of freedom and a soothing connection with the natural world. Her fondness for repetitive motifs and patterns is a form of mindfulness practice, and the work she produces would lend itself to fabric or interior design.
She paints using watercolour, inks and acrylics, and uses a wide range of mark-making materials to create mixed media art, sometimes incorporating collage, printing, textiles, hand and machine stitching.
Menna Angharad studied Botany before training at Byam Shaw School of Art in London, and gaining an MA in Fine Art from Cardiff University. Painting landscapes and still life works in oil on linen canvas, she works directly from life, creating subtly beautiful images that celebrate the precious and intriguing nature of everyday objects.
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Fragments in Time: Flow emerged from an Arts Council of Wales Research and Development grant in 2019 which Sian Hughes used to explore the hinterland of Traeth Mawr, Porthmadog, when it was a tidal estuary, before the Cob was built, and the River Dwyryd’s role in bringing slate to the sea. In this installation the themes of flow, islands and crossing points, are expressed through porcelain and latex. Marks from the landscape, embedded in their delicate translucent properties, are brought alive through lighting to invite a re-viewing of the familiar.
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The three artists take a very different approach, although their subjects are similar. Sian makes expressive paintings in oil of local landscapes, animals and portaits of people close to her. Julie works in felt as well as on paper, also specialising in landscape, with a variety of textile and watercolour works on show. Diane makes colourful paintings of people inspired by the post-impressionists.
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