Catrin Williams - Belonging

Catrin Williams  B. 1966

Artist Statement:

The best abstract artist in Wales.
SIR KYFFIN WILLIAMS - APRIL 2003

Much of the painting that is seen in Wales follows well tried formulae - glowering clouds, jagged rock faces, a few cottages and a farmer with his dog. It is refreshing to see an artist creating her own very personal language. Her success in embedding stitchery in painted surfaces, acknowledges the tradition of women’s work whilst abandoning its restrictions. For these works are a celebratory explosion of colour and positive energy that reflect Catrin’s identity and personality.
MARY LLOYD JONES - MAY 2007

For her, the land is a place to be worked, to give succour, to animate, to offer a means of living, to be shared by the community. The concept of landscape so heartily embraced by generations of romantic painters does not enter into her language.
TAMARA KRIKORIAN - 1999

Welshness - or rather the experience of living in Wales - is an obvious theme in my work. Elements from my background and upbringing in Meirionnydd insist on inclusion in my work - the home and the farm; the celebrations and the clothing; the music and the Welsh culture; the family traditions and the familiar faces.

Since moving to the seaside at Pwllheli my work has played with the cliched images of Wales printed onto tourist tea-towels. I’ve also been responding to local maritime industries - the boats and their sails, the harbours and the landscape which seems foreign to me - a hill-farmer’s daughter.

My work has been exhibited widely throughout Wales, in galleries in Scotland, England and Ireland - my series of Ffrogiau Cerdd Dant - Cerdd Dant Dresses were shown at the Belger Arts Center, Kansas City, U.S.A. as part of the highly successful Prints of Wales exhibition. Over the years my work has been in demand from many private collectors all over the world and their response to the newer works has been very rewarding. Pieces of my art are in private collections all over the British Isles, France, Germany, Hungary, Canada, USA, Japan and China - and in the public collections of Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru/National Library of Wales, MOMA Wales Machynlleth, Newport Gwent Gallery and Museum, Cyngor Sir Gwynedd County Council, and Oriel Ceredigion Aberystwyth. I’ve exhibited and been represented by Martin Tinney Gallery, and more recently Celf Gallery, Cardiff - through which my work has been exhibited in Cardiff, London and China.

During the past decade a number of television items about my life and work have been broadcast on channels throughout Wales (S4C, ITV Wales), throughout Britain (BBC2), and in Ireland by TG4. I featured in a special Christmas 2007 edition of the television programme Byd o Liw when I created a specific ‘Christmas in Wales’ piece of work. This was my second contribution to the series - on my first appearance I responded to the poster art of Harry Riley by using inks, stitchwork and paint to build my own vision of a sunny Aberystwyth. In 2002 Portrait of Catrin Williams gave me the chance to look anew at my upbringing and earliest influences. For Cymry ar Gynfas, April 2021, I was one of the portrait painters featured and more recently on the programme Adre I welcomed the crew to my home and studio and spoke of three items which mean a considerable amount to me.

Over twenty years after graduating from the Art College in Cardiff, I still give my energy to paint and draw my world. I constantly produce original series of works, exhibit consistently and strongly believe in encouraging and supporting other artists - from reception-age school-classes and from every corner of society. I regularly meet art college students who are studying my work - students who are eager to discuss my art and craft, and who are also eager to her spark my enthusiasm.