BYWGRAFFIAD

Mae CARWYN EVANS yn gweithio mewn cyfrwng cymysg, ffotograffiaeth a gosodweithiau er mwyn archwilio materion yn ymwneud gyda’i synnwyr o le.

Roedd ei sioe unigol gyntaf ‘Y Bore Hwnnw, Gwyliodd y Wawr yn Torri’ yn Oriel Davies, Y Drenewydd, yn cynnwys gwaith a adlewyrchai brofiadau personol Evans tra hefyd yn archwilio newidiadau cymdeithasol a gwleidyddol ehangach yng Nghefn Gwlad Cymru.

Mae llawer o waith Evans wedi canolbwyntio ar 'fudo' o'i fagwraeth yng Ngheredigion wledig i brifddinas Cymru Caerdydd, er mwyn dilyn ei yrfa artistig. Adlewyrchu ar effaith ei ymadawiad, y gwacter a adawyd ar ôl (ffisegol a diwylliannol), a chanlyniad newid yw’r themau o dan sylw yn ei waith. Mae Evans yn defnyddio arddull cerfluniol sydd wedi ei symleiddio, gan weithio gyda gwrthrychau sy’n bodoli’n barod a rhai a gynhyrchwyd yn benodol (ac sy’n aml wedi eu gwneud yn grefftus iawn).

Fe raddiodd Carwyn o Athrofa Prifysgol Cymru, Caerdydd yn 2001 ac o'r Coleg Celf Brenhinol gyda MA mewn Cerfluniaeth yn 2011. Yn 2000 ennillodd Ysgoloriaeth Artist Ifanc yn yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol, gan ennill Gwobr Ifor Davies yn yr Eisteddfod yn 2003 a 2007 am ddarnau o waith a oedd yn ‘cyfleu ysbryd y frwydr dros iaith, diwylliant a gwleidyddiaeth Cymru’. Yn 2009, fe dderbyniodd wobr Gelfyddyd Gain yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol gan ennill y Fedal Aur mewn Celfyddyd Gain yn 2012. Cymerodd ran yn sioe Locws 3 yn 2007, yn ogystal ag arddangos mewn sioeau ar hyd a lled Cymru, yn Nenmarc, Awstria a Mecsico.

Astudiodd Evans (g. 1979) yn Ysgol Gelf Caerdydd (1998-2001) a'r Coleg Celf Brenhinol (2009-2011) ac mae'n arddangos yn rheolaidd, gan amlaf yng Nghymru.

‘Mae cyfres gweithiau Carwyn Evans yn nodi symudiad sylweddol yn ymarfer diweddar yr artist tra’n cydio’n dynn wrth ei faterion craidd. Mae tirwedd ddiwylliannol, wledig ac amaethyddol yr artist a hanes ei deulu o’i fewn yn allweddol. Gyda dealltwriaeth o ystyr cysyniadol a barddonol cynhenid defnyddiau mae Carwyn Evans yn gallu defnyddio coed, efydd, cynffonau wˆyn a cerameg gyda thuedd minimalaidd crefftus. Nid yw byth yn colli cyffyrddiad yr artist. Wrth sefyll ymhlith y gweithiau dewch yn ymwybodol o broses a sgil ffabrigeiddio, pwysigrwydd barddonol nodau syml a haniaethol peiriannau a’r bywyd amaethyddol. Ond fel gyda phob celf wych, crefft Carwyn Evans yw creu gwaith sy’n gallu codi’n uwch nag un set o ystyron, gan ei agor allan i’n cwmpasu ni i gyd.’ (Sean Edwards, Artist).

‘Mae anghytgord, neu bethau sydd ddim yn ffitio’n union, gyda’i gilydd nac mewn cyd-destun, yn tanategu agwedd ffres Carwyn Evans tuag at ddeunydd, ffurf ac ystyr yn ei ddarnau cerflun / gwaith gosod. Tra’n ymddangos yn hunanfeddiannol a phenderfynol, ar yr olwg gyntaf, mae’r corff hwn o waith yn eich herio i “deimlo yn hytrach na dehongli”, fel y dywed yr artist ei hun. Mae’n gweithio gyda deunyddiau a gyda phrosesau sydd eisoes yn gyforiog ac sy’n cludo ystyr a gofynna’r artist i’r gwyliwr ddadlennu ei ddealltwriaeth ei hun trwy ei brofiad. Canlyniad profiad yw ei waith nid yn rhywbeth i’w ddisgrifio.’ (Declan McGonagle, Curadur a Chyfarwyddwr Coleg Cenedlaethol Celf a Dylunio, Dylun).
BIOGRAPHY

CARWYN EVANS works in mixed media, photography and installation to explore issues related to his individual sense of place.

His first solo exhibition 'That Morning He Watched The Dawn' recently took place at Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown which contained work that reflects Evans’ personal experiences while exploring broader social and political shifts in rural Wales.

Much of his practice has focused on his ‘migration’ from an upbringing in rural Ceredigion to the Welsh capital Cardiff in order to pursue an artistic career. Reflecting on the impact of his leaving, the subsequent void left behind (both physical and cultural), and the consequence of change are all themes explored in his work. At the same time, a recent photographic series gives voice to individuals who have recently migrated and relocated to the artist’s homeland, to allow room for an alternative perspective. Evans represents these concerns using a pared down sculptural aesthetic, working with both existing and specifically produced (and often highly crafted) objects and images.

'Evans is deeply connected to a sense of Welsh speaking, Welsh Wales, but is one of an increasing number of young people from such backgrounds now ensconced in the once non-Welsh Wales city of Cardiff. This is the cultural change he refers to, where a haemorrhaging of the young is encouraged by a lack of creative enterprise and high house prices, an increasing Welsh Wales presence in Cardiff and a diminishing of Welsh spoken in the heartlands. Describing how it feels to be one of these internal émigrés has become Carwyn's dominant theme in recent work. In a characteristically economic piece from his degree show in 2001 there is a reflection on cultural demise; a book is printed with a photocopy of a family photograph, which gradually grows fainter as it is repeated from page to page, until it disappears completely.' (Iwan Bala, Artist).

Carwyn graduated from University of Wales Institute, Cardiff in 2001 and with an MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art in 2011. In 2000 he was awarded the Young Artist Scholarship at the National Eisteddfod, and was the recipient of the Ivor Davies Award at the Eisteddfod in 2003 and 2007 for work which was seen to convey 'the spirit of activism in the struggle for language, culture and politics in Wales'. He was awarded a Fine Art Award at the 2009 Eisteddfod, winning the coveted Gold Medal for Fine Art in 2011. Carwyn took part in Locws 3 in 2007 and has exhibited in group shows across Wales as well as in Denmark, Austria and Mexico.

Evans (b. 1979) studied Sculpture at Cardiff School of Art (1998-2001) and at the Royal College of Art (2009-2011) and has exhibited widely, principally in Wales. He now lives and works in Cardiff.


‘Carwyn Evans’ latest body of work marks a significant shift in the artist’s recent practice whilst holding steadfastly to its core concerns. The artist’s cultural, rural and agricultural landscape and his own family’s history within it are key. With an understanding of the inherent poetical and conceptual meaning of material, Carwyn Evans is able to employ wood, bronze, lambs’ tails and ceramics with a deft minimalist tendency, without ever loosing that sense of the artists’ touch. Standing among the works you become aware of the process and skill of fabrication, the poetical importance of the abstracted and simplified markers of the agricultural machinery and life. But like all great art, Carwyn Evans’ skill is in making work that can transcend one set of meanings, opening it out to encompass us all.’ (Sean Edwards, Artist).

‘Discord, or things not quite fitting, together or in context, underpins the freshness of Carwyn Evans’ approach to material, form and meaning in his sculpture / installation pieces. While appearing cool and resolved, at first reading, this body of work challenges you “to feel rather than read”, as the artist himself has put it. He works with material and with processes which are already loaded and carriers of meaning which he is asking the viewer to unearth in their own understanding of experience. His works are made as a result of experience not to describe it.’ (Declan McGonagle, Curadur a Chyfarwyddwr Coleg Cenedlaethol Celf a Dylunio, Dulyn).