When you move to a new city, you never know what kind of place you’ll end up living in. Nine and a half years ago I spent an exhausting weekend traipsing through the streets of Cardiff, searching for a place to call home. Roath was the last place I looked, and it felt just right – a suburb full of life, but safe too, and welcoming. Little did I know that it was a breeding ground of artistic creation, or that the annual madeinroath arts festival would become one of the highlights of my year.
I’m delighted to be creating my very own art exhibition this year – a piece of work inspired by my daily walk to work, where I have begun to look closely at seemingly ordinary things, and consider them as metaphors, or passageways to a new way of thinking. Crossing Points will be a culmination of many months searching these familiar streets for inspiration…
It began with a series of ‘photo walks’ around Roath, capturing the crossing points – the doors and windows – those over-familiar objects that stand for so much: security, protection, barrier, opportunity, escape…
In response to these photographs came poems – short and simple, taking on a life of their own but always linked back to the images that inspired them, exploring the complexities of living in a shared urban environment. The photographs and poems will be displayed alongside each other during the festival.
But that’s not all – I’m also working with fellow artist Sharon Magill to run a creative writing workshop for this year’s madeinroath festival. Sharon has spent time researching the paintings of Charles Byrd – vibrant, colourful paintings which depict Cardiff in the 1950s, capturing the city at an important time in history. We’ll take these paintings as inspiration, and respond to them in our own individual ways, weaving these images into pieces of short fiction or memoir. These short stories written as part of the workshop may form part of a much larger project – the Charles Byrd Story Trail.
madeinroath 2018 runs from Sunday 14th to Sunday 21st October
My exhibition Crossing Points can be seen at The Wash Inn (161a Albany Road) throughout the week. The venue is open 9am-5pm but you should be able to view the work through the window at any time of day.
The Charles Byrd Story Trail Creative Writing Workshop takes place on Tuesday 16th October at The Gate arts centre, from 7.30-9.30pm.
Both events are free to attend (no need to book) and were commissioned by madeinroath, funded by the Arts Council of Wales, who receives funding from the Welsh Government and the National Lottery.
