Y Mae Stafell…

3.01.2023 - 28.02.2023

Catrin Gwilym is a multimedia artist from Porthmadog, and this came about after being made redundant in middle age. She studied on the part time community Fine Art Programme at Bangor University. This is her first solo exhibition at a prominent institution in Wales.

“This Journal is an account of various life chapters over the last decade; chapters of seeking new ways to deal with bereavements. It is a contemplation of locality, displacement and at times relocation: of opportunities, second chances and a lack of opportunities, and of their potential to change lives.

It is a celebration of the fringes, through wanderings, discoveries and musings in five specific locations – about the singular in the nondescript, the uncommon in the common place, the unfamiliar in the familiar. But it is also an elegy for the end of eras, for treasures that were discarded and of things ending, be it through a lack of investment or disregard.

The White Box in Pontio was the final location in the jigsaw of opening up the Journal but due to the pandemic the exhibition – showcasing the work of several artists – was cancelled in May 2020. On revisiting the space recently with the film-maker Juliette Daum, I attempted to process that which had come to pass, what had been lost and what had come about through new opportunities. All through collections and searching for conclusions.”