Rhiannon’s practice explores a sense of place and the notion of having a deep involvement with the landscape. She’s interested in how materials can act as identity markers; influencing the way in which we view ourselves and the world around us through the imprinting of emotion and memory onto our surroundings.
Her work uses the physical characteristics of locally sourced materials to create work which exemplifies the rugged beauty of her home landscape of North Wales. This involves exploring the full potential of slate by incorporating it with ceramic processes to create objects that depict forms of the land as part of a circular process whereby having been personally shaped by the surrounding landscape she forms and shapes its raw materials.
Rhiannon Gwyn was raised in Sling near Bethesda – a quarrying village in North Wales, a place that has, and continues to strongly influence her creative practice. In 2019 Rhiannon graduated with a first class BA Artist Designer: Maker degree from Cardiff School of Art and Design at Cardiff Met and was awarded the Austin Smith: Lord Prize for design excellence. On the course she was encouraged to experiment with a variety of materials and their processes and found her interest to be with slate and clay. Her practice now seeks to discover new possibilities in the crafting of these materials. After a yelong residency in Cardiff Met’s Graduate ‘Inc Space’ programme, Rhiannon has now returned home to North Wales and works from her studio there.
Mae ymarfer Rhiannon yn archwilio ymdeimlad o le a’r syniad o ymwneud yn ddwfn â’r dirwedd. Mae ganddi ddiddordeb mewn sut y gall deunyddiau weithredu fel marcwyr hunaniaeth; dylanwadu ar y ffordd yr ydym yn edrych ar ein hunain a’r byd o’n cwmpas trwy olion emosiwn a chof ar ein hamgylchedd.
Mae ei gwaith yn defnyddio nodweddion ffisegol deunyddiau lleol i greu gwaith sy’n enghraifft o harddwch garw ei thirwedd gartref yng Ngogledd Cymru. Mae hyn yn cynnwys archwilio potensial llawn llechi trwy ei ymgorffori â phrosesau cerameg i greu gwrthrychau sy’n darlunio ffurfiau o’r tir fel rhan o broses gylchol trwy’r hyn y mae hi wedi cael ei siapio’n bersonol ac o’r dirwedd o’i hamgylch mae hi’n ffurfio ac yn siapio ei deunyddiau crai.
Magwyd Rhiannon Gwyn yn Sling ger Bethesda – pentref chwarela yng Ngogledd Cymru, lle sydd, ac sy’n parhau i ddylanwadu’n gryf ar ei hymarfer creadigol. Yn 2019 graddiodd Rhiannon gyda dosbarth cyntaf mewn BA Artist Dylunydd: Gwneuthurwr o Ysgol Celf a Dylunio Caerdydd ym Met Caerdydd a dyfarnwyd Gwobr Austin Smith: Lord Prize for design excellence iddi am ragoriaeth dylunio. Fe’i hanogwyd ar y cwrs i arbrofi gydag amrywiaeth o ddefnyddiau a’u prosesau a chanfu fod ei diddordeb mewn llechi a chlai. Mae ei hymarfer bellach yn ceisio darganfod posibiliadau newydd wrth greu’r deunyddiau hyn. Ar ôl preswyliad blwyddyn o hyd yn rhaglen Graddedigion ‘Inc Space’ Met Caerdydd, mae Rhiannon bellach wedi dychwelyd adref i Ogledd Cymru ac yn gweithio o’i stiwdio yno.
