Two views of Wales
The latest show at Ffin Y Parc gallery in Llanrwst brings together two very different artists from west Wales: Meinir Matthias and Adam Taylor, writes Jenny White...
THE Rebecca Riots are a source of endless fascination for Meinir Matthias, raising issues around Welsh identity and the way in which a story from history can change as perspective changes. The Newquay, west Wales-based artist explores these themes through a cast of bold Welsh characters whose unapologetic, challenging stares feel contemporary, even as their clothing speaks of Welsh history.
Matthias has been exploring these themes for a number of years, following on from her master’s degree in fine art, which led her to become a lecturer at Carmarthen School of Art.
“Since my degree, the focus has always been looking at my cultural identity and taking inspiration from history for characters,” she says. “I did an artist’s residency in which I worked with a couple of primary schools and we looked at the Rebecca Riots and I was struck by how little visual representation was out there of Welsh history, especially Welsh folk history.”
She decided to embark on a project involving more extensive research and spoke to many families who are descendants of the heroes of the Rebecca Riots.
“Those memories have been passed down within the families,” she says. “That really inspired the first body of work based on the Rebecca Riots. I don’t see them as historical paintings and they’re not portraits as such – it’s reimagining them with a contemporary perspective.”
In the work she explores the way in which Welsh identity has evolved and, to some extent, been created – through the reinvention of its flag, its national anthem and its national dress. She sees all of these as part of an ongoing effort to understand and define the Welsh national identity.
“I also like to explore the notion of heroism, because, of course, at the time, the rioters were branded as outcasts by the authorities and there was great shame placed on the families that had relatives deported – but a couple of generations later they’re classed as heroes. I like the idea of how we view characters from history depending on where we are now in our society.
“Each piece I make is about understanding myself a bit more – understanding the world and the society and the culture that I’m from and trying to make sense of the direction of my community and myself.”
Her fellow exhibitor, Adam Taylor, lives near Narberth and also makes Wales his subject matter – but his inspiration is the landscape near his Narberth home.
The roots of this work lie in his move from Cardiff – where, as well as being an artist, he had been the singer in the band the Victorian English Gentlemen’s Club – to Narberth, where he took a job working for a foraging company while he also continued to paint.
“The foraging company supplied food to restaurants and I spent hours and hours outside all along the coast gathering all these different plants and seaweeds,” he says. “Working outside for that time and the coast influenced the blues in my work. I try with my paintings to create a world without people – an abstract, lonely landscape based on where I live,” he says.
He works in oil on board, typically dividng the board into a grid, which can create the illusion that he is painting on tiles.
“I grid it and I work on each sort of square in the grid at a time,” he says. “I find it helps me with composition.”
His palette is cool and muted, like the colours of
winter in west Wales: “Winter is a big input to me – the coldness of the season and the washed out colours that you get when you’re at the coast,” he says.
While he has always painted, his productivity soared during lockdown, ultimately enabling him to turn to painting full time.
“Suddenly, when lockdown happened, I wasn’t working and I was just able to paint. I had days and days of painting and that really sort of kickstarted it all,” he says.
Each painting takes shape in a process of exploration and experimentation – his approach is highly intuitive.
“I’ll start with the blue paint and sometimes I use pink as well. I begin with the background and I go into it not knowing what I’m going to paint – I just start putting down colours and rubbing off colours. I probably rub off more work than I paint!
“It’s a lot of trial and error, trying things and then when I’m happy I start to think of titles – they always come afterwards.”
The effect of the titles is to anchor an otherwise abstract painting, offering up a way to view it that is sometimes humorous and often poetic. Each piece has a meditative quality and a sense of space and stillness that also invites the viewer to interpret it in their own way too.
“I do want to create a sense of calmness, peacefulness and emptiness that hopefully provokes thoughts when you look at them – I hope that people see different things in them,” he says.
■ The exhibition runs until April 26 at Ffin Y Parc Country House and Gallery. More details can be found at www.welshart.net