Art Space Archive
Here are some of the past exhibitions at Galeri:
Safle Celf / Safle Creu / Y Wal / Derbynfa: AGORED 2023
02/12/23 - 27/01/24
The open exhibition includes over 60 artworks from artists based across Wales and the UK. The exhibition celebrates a broad range of painting, drawing, print, photography, textiles, sculpture and film.
This years judges included the artists Paul Eastwood and Llinos Owen, Creative Director in Galeri Naomi Saunders and Art Coordinator in Galeri Ffion Evans.
Judges prize £1000 - Sioned Mason Smith
Highly Commended £400 – Megan Glyn
People’s Choice Prize £250 – Visit Galeri Caernarfon to vote for your favourite artwork
Ar y Ffram: Ffiws
Hannah Walters & Lucy Smith
Hydref 2023 – Ionawr 2024
Ffiws is a collaboration between ceramicist Hannah Walters and writer Lucy Smith. Over the last 7 months, they’ve been exploring the links between fungi and queer identities, combining their practices, and playing with forms, words, textures, and meanings. They are interested in how queer ideas connect with the movement and forms of mycelium, spores, and bursting fruiting bodies – both shifting, transformative and boundary-defying.
Safle Celf: Hollti a rhwymo / Cleave
Lesley James
21/10/23 - 25/11/23
Lesley James lives and works in North Wales. She is interested in surface traces, form, and in the physical and invisible barriers we create.
‘I find the quarry landscape fascinating, a visible result of both destruction and creation. The work explores the hand of the artist following the hands of the slate quarry workers, creating double sided rubbings of rock faces, walls, roofs and tools used in the slate industry.’
Gwrando
Veronica Calarco
Dr Veronica Calarco, studied printmaking at Australia National University and has a PhD in printmaking from Aberystwyth University. She is a director of Aberystwyth Printmakers and founder of Stiwdio Maelor, an artist residency program in Corris, which has its own print studio. She has recently returned from a 3-month lithography residency at Umbrella Studios in North Queensland and has been the lead artist in the project Molla Wariga / Gwrando Dwfn, working with artists from Wales, Ireland and Australia as part of the Arts Council of Wales Gwrando project. These prints were developed during the residency at Umbrella Studios in response to the Gwrando project. 900 baskets has been developing over the last 12 years and made of rejected prints from printmakers all over the world and found string.
@900 baskets
@veronica.calarco
@welivewiththeland
@stiwdiomaelor
SAFLE CELF
The British Society of Enamellers
The objective of our Society is to promote excellence in British enamelling and professional enamellers working in this country and abroad. The British Society of Enamellers has a broad membership, encompassing levels of expertise from enamel students to professional level enamellers.UK based, the BSOE has international connections and offers exhibition opportunities, bursaries, an online gallery, industry discounts, workshops and events for its members. Our aim is to promote the highest standards of contemporary design and workmanship in all aspects of this unique and exciting medium. OUR MISSION IS TO CONNECT, INSPIRE, SUPPORT AND PROMOTE THE PROFESSIONAL ENAMELLING COMMUNITY.
SAFLE CREU
Breathing Space
Alec Shepley
Air is largely invisible and yet integral to our existence. It moves freely across borders and through bodies, resisting our attempts to define and contain it. The coronavirus pandemic highlighted air is a shared, intimate space that renders us vulnerable to infection.
The air we breathe is a common space and the locus for my curiosity and play in this residency, as it relates to all things now and in the future, societal inequality, and shared responsibility.
The aim of my pragmatic art projects is to connect with a community to bring together multiple layers of experience and this manifests itself in my work – words, picture, objects, films, sound etc.
Through this ‘spatial information’ I aim to provide conversation pieces.
I invite you to come in, take a seat and relax. Even have a lie down. And listen to the sound of your own breath.
Enjoy.
DERBYNFA & Y WAL:
Agora
Welsh heritage, ritual, and the land
Creative interpretations of Welsh heritage, folklore, language, and landscapes—from ancient forests, mountain tops, to underwater realms. Rooted in sustainability, playful exploration, and a desire to nourish our personal and cultural connection to Wales.
Agora showcases new work by a range of contemporary artists, along with documentation of recent collaborative work made on location at Cadw heritage sites.
Abi Hubbard, Beth Greenhalgh, Catrin Davies, Catrin Menai, Clare Parry Jones, Dan Johnson, Dominique Fester, Ffion Reynolds, Georgia Ruth, Gwenno, Jen Abell, Lewis Prosser, Manon Awst, Peter Evans, Sarah Boulton, Sean Vicary, Teddy Hunter, Tess Wood.
ORIEL CAFFI
Where the Light is
Alla Chakir and Roman Nedopaka
Alla Chakir and Roman Nedopaka, a family of Ukrainian artists. Since the war began in their home country, they have found shelter, support, friendship, and love here in North Wales, but their souls are forever with Ukraine and the voice of their heart calls home...where the light is.
Ar y Ffram
Bri / Essence / Brí
July - October 2023
Bri: Natur gynhenid neu ansawdd anhepgor rhywbeth
Essence: The intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something
Brí: Nádúr intreach nó cáilíocht fíor-riachtanach do rud éigin
Bridging the gap between Fine Art and Fashion, Ríon Hannora creates wearable art. With nods to both the baroque era and urban graffiti there is often a juxtaposition throughout her collections. The act of collaboration is also often found in her work and this exhibit is not an exception to that. Bringing neighbouring countries together through this amalgamation of fashion and fine art was a goal from the very beginning and so, Ríon reached out to three Welsh artists and two Irish artists to collaborate on this project; Ffion Evans, Aisling Phelan, Morgan Dowdell, Osian Efnisien and Amelia Greham. Evans, Phelan, Dowdell and Efnisien were given a garment each, made by Ríon in her Dublin studio to explore their own practice through the use of clothing. Each artist was given just over a month to make this blank canvas of a garment, into something else entirely. All the while, Amelia Greham created the mannequins in which these garments are displayed.
SAFLE CELF
The British Society of Enamellers
The objective of our Society is to promote excellence in British enamelling and professional enamellers working in this country and abroad. The British Society of Enamellers has a broad membership, encompassing levels of expertise from enamel students to professional level enamellers.UK based, the BSOE has international connections and offers exhibition opportunities, bursaries, an online gallery, industry discounts, workshops and events for its members. Our aim is to promote the highest standards of contemporary design and workmanship in all aspects of this unique and exciting medium. OUR MISSION IS TO CONNECT, INSPIRE, SUPPORT AND PROMOTE THE PROFESSIONAL ENAMELLING COMMUNITY.
Y WAL
Porth Annwn
Stephen Green
I regard drawing as a means of working out, understanding, and realising ideas visually. My work is mostly abstract; it is intended to represent my thoughts and ideas. To that end, I work with formal conventions of drawing, realising the idea through variations. Currently my ideas are interpretations of Welsh myths: the Mabinogion. Specifically, stories in which the protagonists travel to a parallel world (Annwn). The images in this exhibition are intended to suggest gaps in the reality of our world where it is possible to travel to another, parallel, world.
DERBYNFA / ORIEL CAFFI
The Llwybrau Celf Projects focused on high quality art experiences for young people in Gwynedd and Ynys Mon, to develop their artistic skills and to provide deeper insight into culture and creative opportunities in Wales. Thank you to Arts Council Wales of Wales for Funding the project.
SAFLE CREU
Gofod Anadlu
Alec Shepley
Mae aer yn anweledig i raddau helaeth ac eto'n rhan annatod o'n bodolaeth. Mae'n symud yn rhydd ar draws ffiniau a thrwy gyrff, gan wrthsefyll ein hymdrechion i'w ddiffinio a'i gynnwys. Mae aer a amlygwyd gan y pandemig coronafirws yn ofod agos a rennir sy'n ein gwneud yn agored i haint.
Mae'r aer a anadlwn yn ofod cyffredin ac yn locws ar gyfer fy chwilfrydedd a'm chwarae yn y preswyliad hwn, gan ei fod yn ymwneud â phopeth yn awr ac yn y dyfodol, anghydraddoldeb cymdeithasol, a chyfrifoldeb a rennir.
Nod fy mhrosiectau celf pragmatig yw cysylltu â chymuned i ddod â haenau lluosog o brofiad at ei gilydd ac mae hyn yn amlygu ei hun yn fy ngwaith - geiriau, llun, gwrthrychau, ffilmiau, sain ac ati.
Trwy’r ‘wybodaeth ofodol’ hon rwy’n anelu at ddarparu darnau sgwrsio.
Rwy'n eich gwahodd i ddod i mewn, cymryd sedd ac ymlacio. Hyd yn oed cael gorwedd i lawr. A gwrando ar swn dy anadl dy hun
Mwynhewch.
SAFLE CELF
ARBROFOL
Ashley Cooke
22/07/23 - 02/09/23
‘ARBROFOL’ brings together new painting and music by visual artist and improvising guitarist Ash Cooke to present a sensory experience in a brightly coloured galley space that deals imaginatively with the way people discover and engage with abstract visual art and improvised music. The paintings in the exhibition are named after the peaks of the Ogwen valley although the images themselves are not direct depictions of landscapes, more internalised echoes of the places where Ash lives.
Y Wal
Sunset to Sunrise
Llinos Owen
07/07/23 – 28/08/23
Llinos Owen (b.1998) is a Welsh Fine Art textile artist, originally from North Wales and currently based in London. The artist moved to London in 2017 to study Fine Art: Painting at Wimbledon College of Arts (UAL) and since graduating in 2020, Owen has developed her artistic practice to be mostly textiles based and has exhibited her textured tapestries in many group exhibitions in the UK such as Delphian Gallery’s “Synthesis” at the Saatchi Gallery and the “Let’s Talk About Textiles” Exhibition at The Other Art Fair in early 2022, as well as her first Solo Exhibition titled “Thank Your Lucky Stars” at Orleans House Gallery in 2021. Llinos Owen was recently named as one of Saatchi Art’s “Rising Stars of 2022” as she continues to explore her personal narratives and subject matters in her London studio, creating painting inspired imagery with her textiles materials.
SAFLE CELF
Anfarwolion
Ruth Jên Evans
03/06/23 - 15/07/23
Ruth Jên Evans is a full-time artist based in Ceredigion, Mid-Wales, who has an unquenchable enthusiasm for all forms of printmaking and mark making.
Safle Creu / Y wal / Derbynfa
Utopias Bach Invitations
03/06/23 - 05/07/23
Utopias Bach is a creative collective based on North Wales, with connections around the world.
Since lockdown 2020, we have been trying to find out ‘What are the Utopias Bach, the little things that might in some way help create a better place for people of all kinds (human and more-than-human), especially those who are most badly affected by the state of the world?’. By rethinking ‘Utopia’ as rooted in place, we have been working creatively together to explore revolutions in miniature, creating positive change in our society and focused at a scale we feel we can influence.
Y Ffram
Rachael Smith
Growing Pains
25/04/23 – July 2023
Growing Pains portrays my ongoing journey from a former-trapeze artist, to a disabled artist. My experiences of disabilities left me feeling like I’m hanging in suspension, uncomfortable and separate, though pushing through limits has ultimately instigated an embracing of a different perspective. This experience is depicted by the upside down, hanging figurative sculptures, showing struggle & disorientation experienced by so many of us. I have experienced such challenges, they can deepen our understanding of life, self, and fuel passions within us. I hope to relate with others and inspire, that life doesn’t end with diagnosis or isolation, but rather shifts & transforms. The raw textures of the ceramic body, combined with the subtlety of the figures missing arms, represent “Invisible disability” often not seen at first glance but with more scrutiny become evident, showing that perfection is only a perspective. At the head of the figure is a blooming new flower, giving a sense emerging, full of passion, acknowledging new wonders and beauty in the world.
SAFLE CELF
Cyfoes Menai Contemporary
22.04.23 – 27.05.23
Second year students work from the BA Fine Art and Foundation Degree (FdA) Art and Design Courses.
SAFLE CREU
T R O I I I < A Residency and Exhibition
17/04/23 - 28/05/23
A collaborative art group formed in 2021 by artists Rita Ann, Brian Baker and Anthony Ynohtna.
TROIII<A was formed through mutual interests and shared experiences, realised during their studies at Glyndŵr University, Wrexham.
TROIII<A work both individually and collaboratively in a wide range of media and forms. Through a multi-disciplinary approach to contemporary art, TROIII<A create works heavily inspired and influenced by the relationship between mental health, wellbeing and art practices. Each artist bring their individual experiences, approaches and perspectives to such themes, creating deeply personal yet accessible works.
Breach is a project through which the artists intend to bridge across binaries like depression and wellbeing, movement and stillness, materiality and spirituality, mind and body. They use a collaborative working practice to explore materials and forms, representing their experiences but also proposing new narratives and spaces for collective reflection.
Y WAL
Kerry Baldry
Personal Codes and Unknown Worlds
21/04/23 - 29/05/23
Kerry Baldry is a multi-disciplinary artist. The paintings showing on Y Wal have been inspired by the landscape around her studio in Nantlle, North Wales.
She is interested in the process of painting, the way different colours and marks have the ability to convey emotions. She paints, removes, scrapes away multiple layers, adding paint and continually reworking. This process allows her to combine both control and spontaneity to convey intense inner landscapes through the act of improvisation and intuition, juxtaposing colour and texture into a wide variety of forms and emotional energy.
Oriel Caffi
Gwen Owen
07/03/23 – 15/05/23
Finding hidden gems
For me, the landscape is engaging and inspirational; it changes at every moment, temperature, wind, light colour, texture, nature and sound. It is here I find energy both physically and mentally. During the pandemic, I valued my landscape even more and counted myself lucky I was able to escape frequently for walks along an old disused railway track that runs through trees and farmlands. My body of works comes from this soulful creative place. They are not about perfection, comparison, or fear but one of self-discovery. They are about experimenting, play, gestural mark making, going with the flow, recalling memories, observations and capturing moments and slice of time.
‘Aldanio’ 2022-23 Arts Prize Exhibition at Galeri Caernarfon
03/03/23 - 08/04/23
Aildanio, the Disability Arts Cymru (DAC) Arts Prize exhibition begins its eigth gallery tour of Wales at Galeri Caernarfon in March 2023.
The exhibition is funded by Arts Council Wales and features 26 pieces of work by disabled Wales-based artists, selected from over 100 submissions of creative responses to an ‘Aildanio’ (reignite) moment.
DAC, the national disability arts organisation of Wales are currently celebrating 40 years of promoting equality for disabled and Deaf people in the arts, and BSLI and audio descriptions are embedded into the exhibition programme.
Siop Cywrain
Adel Kay, Ann Catrin Evans, Crefftarian, EllyMental, Julie Mellor & Osian Efnisien
Jewellery and the Process
22/09/22 - 28/01/23
Galeri brings together a rich collection of 6 jewellery makers, showcasing their beautiful creations and the unique process that guides them. This exhibition explores the relationship the artists have with their process and will provide a unique insight into their practice from sketches and inspiration photos to their tools and experiements. Explore the inner minds of these jewellery artists and celebrate the skill, creativity and craftsmanship of the jewellery on display.
2022 Open Exhibition
The open exhibition includes over 60 artworks from artists based across Wales and the UK. The exhibition celebrates a broad range of painting, drawing, print, photography, textiles, sculpture and film.
This years judges included the artist Catrin Williams, Photographer Tim Williams, Creative Director in Galeri Naomi Saunders and Art Coordinator in Galeri Ffion Evans.
Judges prize £1000 – Shauna Taylor
Highly Commended £400 – Anthony Ynohtna
People’s Choice Prize £250 – Visit Galeri Caernarfon to vote for your favourite artwork
Oriel Caffi
Rhodri Ellis-Jones, Glenn Edwards, Roger Tiley & Kristina Banholzer
DocCymru: Prosiect Brexit
Doc Cymru is an exciting collaborative project involving four experienced photographers who have come together to document the effects that Brexit will have on Wales. A look into the stories of people from Wales’ communities and further afield, agriculture and interesting industries. What will happen in the years to come? Images to show the people of Wales the true effects. Here is the projects progress thus far, the photographers will be working towards completing the body of work by 2024 where they will be exhibiting at the Aberystwyth Art Centre as well as other venues.
Safle Celf
Buddug Humphreys
Hyfrydle
28/10/22 – 26/11/22
Buddug's work in this exhibition is the fruit of her wandering through many areas in Wales and is a reflection of what she feels about many of her favorite places and scenes.
Y Wal
Katherine Fiona Jones
Gwagle
12.10.22 – 21.11.22
In the places between language, when you feel the grief of loss, the only thing we have are our bodies and time. Gwagle tries to speak the language of grief, uses abstraction and automatic gestures to create a feeling of confinement and peace.
Safle Creu
Dottie-may Aston & Jonathan Retallick
Antagonym
15.10.22 – 19.11.22
Antagonym - Where two opposites coexist. This exhibition explores merging the line between figurative and abstract and unifying the dream-like state that both Jonathan Retallick and Dottie-may Aston’s work muse upon. The centrepiece of the show Antagonym is a sculptural collaboration between both artists. Made on-site for three weeks Antagonym was treated as an opportunity to push creativity and familiarity with media.
Safle Celf
Paul Eastwood
Veiled Speech
10/09/22 - 15/10/22
In Veiled Speech, Paul Eastwood exhibits a new series of tapestries that evoke the ruins of an imagined architecture. Monumental disassembled stone blocks are restacked to form new patterns. Some display fragments of Welsh inscriptions. Their weathered surfaces vie for attention with encroaching ivy.
Safle Creu
Residency
Jonathan & Dottie-may
Antagonym
21/09/22 - 08/10/22
Antagonym is a three-week collaborative residency between Dottie-may Aston and Jonathan Retallick. Antagonyms are words with two opposite meanings. The couple feel this accurately describes this project as they approach it from opposing creative perspectives. Their opposing figurative and abstract practices have been brought together to challenge both artists to create work powered by their own inspirations. It’s a synergy of ideas as well as an invitation to showcase their creativity and actively engage with visitors. The duo wishes to start that creative conversation while working intuitively together for the first time on a sculpture.
Y Wal
Denise Laura Baker
Gweithredoedd, Nid Geiriau
31/08/22 - 10/10/22
Denise Laura Baker is an award-winning photojournalist and documentary photographer focusing on environmental and social issues, climate change, activism, and community. Her photographic and creative work draws on influences from her career as a visual artist, and her previous qualitative psychology career where she interviewed and collected the stories of the people with whom she worked. She continues to collect and tell stories though her photography, matching them with recorded or written dialogue and so empowering those with whom she collaborates.