Drawing on
my imagination but firmly rooted in every day experiences my painting, writing and use of language, record a voice that explores the relationship between an outer world an inner world and otherworldliness. The layers of influence that have evolved from growing up female in an industrial Welsh valley, and a sense of Cymreictod (being/ feeling Welsh) within a Celtic Christian culture form a backdrop against which each character enacts a role, continuously searching for a way to bridge the gap between a secular society and a longing for spiritual fulfilment.
I hear the words of artist/ writer David Jones as the first drawings are made ‘it is the abstract quality however hidden or devious which determines the real worth of any work’. It is this abstract quality that forms the structure into which the narrative strands are interwoven. Music and poetry act as catalysts in stimulating my imagination, in particular the music of Lithuanian composer Bronius Kutavicius, music, which has been vital to the political, social and cultural independence of his homeland, and the words of R.S. Thomas whose imagery explores the interface between the worldly, the spirit and the imagination an essential function of artists in the evolution of the culture for an independent Wales.
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The themes of enclosure and liberation are vehicles that articulate the narrative line revealing the characters in time and place. Gnostic mythology has been inspirational in developing my philosophic intention and painting process. My work involves a great deal of preparation, numerous drawings and colour studies, which are transferred to form a dark ground onto which layer upon layer of richer lighter tones are added to create the illusion of space through which the characters often move in continuous representation in an attempt to make the invisible visible.
Recognising the social, political and cultural injustices of both the past and the present in Wales, I am not only endeavouring to express a voice to convey contemporary concerns, but also to reassess the depiction and perception of women in Western culture. To draw these strands of influence into one voice and correlate these experiences with a need for a spiritual inner life is my continuing quest.
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Soliloquy 1
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oil on canvas - 152.5 x 152.5cms
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Deposition
- oil on canvas - 36 x 46cms
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Waiting
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oil on canvas - 20 x 25cms
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Unite
- oil on canvas - 77 x 102cms
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Yn Null Sassetta
- oil on canvas - 41 x 31cm
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CHRISTINE KINSEY
was born in Pontypool, Gwent.
She has had one national and two international solo touring exhibitions, her most recent solo exhibition ‘Llais – Voice ‘ has toured to six venues. She has exhibited in group exhibitions which include National Eisteddfod of Wales; The City Gallery, Leicester; The Royal Academy of Arts, London; Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, Scotland; Irish Life Exhibition Centre, Dublin; The Centre Cultural, Terrassa, Barcelona, Catalonia; Muse Gallery, Philadelphia; Payne Gallery, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA. She has exhibited and has paintings in collections in the Belgium, Caribbean, Catalonia, Eire, England, Lithuania, Scotland, Switzerland, Wales, USA. Her work is represented in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth; Glyn Vivian Art Gallery and Museum, Swansea; Contemporary Art Society of Wales: Her paintings were shown in META a touring exhibition initiated and curated by Christine Kinsey featuring collaborative work by poets and painters, which was exhibited at Arka Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania in conjunction with the Poetry Spring Festival 2002. ‘Llais’ was exhibited The Opera House, Vilnius 2000 Festival, and at Sofa Gallery, Druskininkai, Lithuania, in partnership with the poet Menna Elfyn as part of the Poetic Fall Arts Festival 2003. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Arts Council of Wales Bursary for Artists 1998/9.
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Guardians of a Spiritual Memory
- oil on board
41 x 31cms
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Between 1968 and 1976 she was Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Chapter Workshops and Centre for the Arts, Cardiff; Organiser ‘Pavilions in the Parks’ Newport, Gwent, and Cardiff, commissioned by the Arts Council of Wales; Co-founder of Artists and Designers in Wales Association; Arts Advisor to the Cardiff City Council committee for the re-development of Cardiff City Centre. She then worked as artist and teacher on the Dutch/French Island of St Maarten, Caribbean. Since her return to Wales in 1980 she has lived and worked in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. She taught in Colleges of Higher Education from 1982 to 2001, as well as initiating and coordinating the painting of Murals for The Library, Charles Town, Nevis, West Indies, and St Mary’s Junior School, Bute Town, Cardiff. Painting Workshops at Rosemont College, Philadelphia, U.S.A. and was Co-originator/Coordinator/Teacher of a course in Creative Development, San Sano, Sienna, Tuscany, Italy. She has been Principal/Guest speaker at the Women’s Studies Colloquium and Welsh Writing in English Conference, Gregunog Centre, Wales; Women Artists’ Banquet, Druidstone Hotel, Pembrokeshire; Arts Council of Wales/Institute of Welsh Affairs Seminar, Trinity College, Carmarthen; Centre for International Affairs, Cardiff; ‘What artists need’ symposium Oriel Q, Narberth, Pembrokeshire; M.A. in Creative Writing, University of Wales, Swansea and Trinity College, Carmarthen.
Press reviews include
Western Mail. Artist News Letter. Arts Review. Artist and Artists. Planet. Tu Chwith. Philadelphia Inquirer. Naujoji Romuva and Menas Culturas, Lithuania; Radio/Television broadcasts include Radio Cymru; S4C; BBC Wales; HTV Wales; BBC World Service; Woman’s Hour; Lithuanian television. Her writing has been published in the Welsh Books Council Magazine; Western Mail; Planet; David Jones Journal; Poetry anthology ‘Still Life’ (London) and she initiated and edited with Dr. Ceridwen Lloyd Morgan, the book ‘ Imaging the Imagination’ which explores the relationship between the image and the word in the art of Wales published in 2005 by Gwasg Gomer.
Her exhibition ‘Colloquy’ will be exhibited in Newport Museum and Art Gallery, Gwent from July 22nd until September 2nd 2006.
Christine Kinsey
Email:
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