Stanley Cross

BA (Hons) Illustration

Do you know what makes our voices? Ghosts! The ghosts make our voices, and they’re working in the factory.

Gruff, my nephew, aged 4.

My illustrative output is broadly documentary, exploring a wide range of media and experimental approaches.


At the core of my practice I draw from observation, memory and imagination, in order to shed light on the absurdities of everyday life, portraying the relationships between people, things and the spaces they occupy. The playful, fragmentary narratives which emerge are designed to convey my perceptions and the energy of situations, as I analyse the way we behave in the universe. I try to break down a moment to its greatest essence; using simple lines and minimal colour helps me to do this by bringing clarity to details in facial expressions and body language.

By being specific you can be universal” A R Gurney.

I work intuitively; naturally expressing from personal experiences, so my work often tends to be autobiographical, intimate and particular. By focusing on the emotions and behaviour of the people around me and myself, the drawings illustrate universal human phenomena.

I enjoy shifting intuitively between documentary, narrative and experimental forms without necessarily pre-determining a structure or outcome. This free-form experimental approach has become especially productive through a number of collaborations with fellow student George Goom, making and exhibiting large-scale paintings, giving live performances and creating digital animations.


Ydych chi’n gwybod beth sy’n creu ein lleisiau? Ysbrydion! Mae’r ysbrydion yn creu ein lleisiau, ac maent yn gweithio yn y ffatri.”

Gruff, fy nai, 4 oed.

Mae fy allbwn darluniol yn ddogfennol yn gyffredinol, gan ymchwilio i ystod eang o gyfryngau a dulliau arbrofol. 


Wrth wraidd fy arfer rwy’n galw ar arsylwi, atgof a dychymyg, er mwyn taflu goleuni ar wiriondebau bywyd bob dydd, gan bortreadu’r perthnasoedd rhwng pobl, pethau a’r gofodau y maent yn eu meddiannu. Dylunnir y naratifau darniog chwareus a ddaw i’r amlwg i gyfleu fy nghanfyddiadau ac egni sefyllfaoedd, wrth i mi ddadansoddi’r ffordd yr ydym yn ymddwyn yn y bydysawd. Rwy’n ceisio torri ennyd i lawr i’w hanfod manylaf; mae defnyddio llinellau syml a’r maint lleiaf o liw yn fy helpu i wneud hyn trwy ddod ag eglurder i fanylion mewn mynegiadau’r wyneb ac iaith y corff.

By being specific you can be universal” A R Gurney.

Rwy’n gweithio’n reddfol; gan fynegi’n naturiol o brofiadau personol, felly mae fy ngwaith yn aml yn tueddu bod yn hunangofiannol, yn bersonol ac yn benodol. Trwy ganolbwyntio ar emosiynau ac ymddygiad y bobl o fy nghwmpas a fi fy hun, mae’r darluniadau’n mynegi ffenomenau dynol cyffredinol.

Rwy’n mwynhau symud yn reddfol rhwng ffurfiau dogfen, naratif ac arbrofol heb o reidrwydd bennu strwythur neu ganlyniad ymlaen llaw. Mae’r dull arbrofol ffurf rydd yma wedi mynd yn arbennig o gynhyrchiol trwy nifer o weithiau ar y cyd gyda chyd-fyfyriwr George Goom, gan greu ac arddangos paentiadau graddfa fawr, rhoi perfformiadau byw a chreu animeiddiadau digidol.

Other Exhibitors:

Megan Vest

Megan Vest

Image and text holds a significant value to my practice as an illustrator. Interpreting pre-existing narrative through my own visual language revives an appreciation for this relationship, as well as reanimating these texts. It is vital that we continue to acknowledge...

Daisy Osborne-Walsh

Daisy Osborne-Walsh

As an artist, I aim to be a positive agent for change and increase awareness on topics I find most important. My work is fuelled by my passion to shed light on social injustices, specifically effecting women. The topic basis of my work is often regarding sexual...

Chris Evans aka Queerbis

Chris Evans aka Queerbis

Queerbis is an Activist Illustrator who wants to change the world, while having some fun doing it. Their new design movement titled ‘Bis Design’ recognises society’s biased construction, and as a result gives the ‘power of bias’ back to anyone who is disadvantaged or...

Kodchamon Jermlae

Kodchamon Jermlae

As an artist, I tend to observe the environment I have been through, a consequence of feelings and opinions. The reality is that nothing and no one is perfect. One of the most common reasons for the creative block is the fear of imperfection. This has always been a...

Rosina Rooke

Rosina Rooke

A Cardiff based artist, originally from the Valleys, who focuses on the embrace of life of animate and inanimate objects and bringing a message to their meanings. Exhibited is Rosina Rooke’s latest project work, the decay of food over time. I specialise in a variety...

Rhiannon Griffiths

Rhiannon Griffiths

The Room of Empowerment is an immersive experience that is a thought-provoking assortment of painted fabrics, patterned wood and other multi-mediums, that removes the need of wordly constraits and thrusts you into the land of the fairytale. This mesmeric storybook...