Dylan Williams : Another World
In early January 2022 I was very fortunate to be asked to participate in an Artist retreat at Stiwdio Maelor in Corris. As a painter concerned with the landscape, the history and industrial legacy around it especially the South Wales valleys landscapes; the opportunity to spend a few days in Mid Wales with other like minded artists and thinkers was incredible. The very few experiences I have had of the Mid and North Welsh landscape as an artist I have found it to be overwhelmingly beautiful to the point where I have been unable to draw the environment and just been busy looking at the landscape.
A main idea that drives my work is the feeling of another world below the visible one so the opportunity to walk through the a tunnel under a mountain that was bored out for the slate mining industry was fascinating and has fed into a painting made afterwards.
Something else that struck me about the landscape and environment was the proximity to a more ancient and medieval Wales compared to the South. The hills and mountains felt as if they had mote of a story and behind them, this has inspired me into making more figurative almost mythical paintings about the landscape and using the landscape almost asa character and seeing it as living entry and being, a point that was raised by Rebecca and Mark a few times in conversations.
Rudimentary sketch of the Corris landscape made quickly in the freezing cold.
The main point of thought I kept coming back to on the retreat was on the landscape was how to present the rich industrial and ancient history as part of my paintings as opposed to merely just displaying the landscape as it looks in my paintings. I am yet to resolve this idea due to upcoming deadlines for shows, but I feel another period at Maelor and the freedom to create work freely with out restrictions and deadlines is needed at some point.
Sketchbook page made on one the walks we did as a group.
As mentioned I’ve been unable to create finished paintings based upon the sketches made in Corris to due to an upcoming deadline for a solo show in New York where the gallery wanted quite figurative works. But I am hoping to create paintings from them for solo shows in Swansea and Madrid in mid to late 2022.
Mostly my favourite point of the retreat was meeting various different people at different stages in life with different professions come together to share a common interest and affinity to the environment, and listening the differing points of research they brought. I would also recommend to train journey from Machynlleth to Shrewsbury to anyone, it features the most beautiful scenery I have seen in Wales.