Bethan Davies

BA (Hons) Fine Art


Inspired by a trip to India, where the day-to-day manufacture of items by hand is still a commonplace skill, I realised how little we rely on our hands and handed down practical skill in our contemporary culture. We live in a society of convenience and as a result we lack the drive to create instead of buy. In response to this I have been running workshops to pass on a hand-based skill and bring participants back to basics through crafting an everyday object: a wooden spoon.

This ongoing project is about more than just providing the ability to make a spoon; it aims to restore real life interactions within a community, grounding participants in the present moment. Guided by the found material of fallen wood to create something unique from scratch each spoon represents hours spent away from technology, connecting with the people directly around us and exploring our ability to make something out of nothing.

I hope to inspire people to think about our disposable, ready-made culture and consider sustainable handmade processes as a way to combat it.


Fe wnaeth taith i India, lle mae gwneud eitemau â’r llaw yn feunyddiol yn dal i fod yn sgìl cyffredin, fy ysbrydoli gan wneud i mi sylweddoli cyn lleied y byddwn yn dibynnu yn ein diwylliant cyfoes ar ein dwylo a sgiliau ymarferol sydd wedi dod i lawr drwy’r cenedlaethau. Rydym yn byw mewn cymdeithas o gyfleustra ac, felly, nid oes yr awydd ynom i greu yn hytrach nag i brynu. Mewn ymateb i hyn, rwyf wedi bod yn rhedeg gweithdai i drosglwyddo sgìl gwaith-llaw a chael cyfranogion i ailgydio yn y sylfeini drwy grefftio gwrthrych o fywyd bob dydd: llwy bren.

Mae’r prosiet-ar-waith hwn yn ymwneud â mwy na dim ond rhoi’r gallu i wneud llwy; ei nod yw adfer rhyngweithio bywyd go iawn o fewn cymuned, gan sefydlu cyfranogion yn y foment hon. A phren sydd wedi cwympo yn ein tywys i gael creu rhywbeth unigryw o’r dechrau’n deg, mae pob llwy yn cynrychioli oriau a dreuliwyd heb dechnoleg, yn cysylltu â’r bobl sydd o’n cwmpas yn uniongyrchol ac yn archwilio’n gallu i wneud rhywbeth o ddim.
Rwy’n gobeithio ysbrydoli pobl i feddwl am ein diwylliant taflu-i-ffwrdd, parod ac ystyried prosesau cynaliadwy sy’n defnyddio’r llaw yn ffordd i filwrio yn erbyn y diwylliant hwnnw.

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