22 April – 2 July 2023

Exhibitors: Louise Bell, Jack Durling, Liz Ellis, Susan Halls, Brendan Hesmondhalgh, Catrin Howell, Susan O’Byrne, Charlotte Mary Pack, 
Elaine Peto, Zoe Whiteside

Twenty years ago Jan Morris wrote an inspirational introduction for Catrin Howells’ first solo exhibition. She wrote “Deep in the consciousness – or unconsciousness – of Welsh people live the creatures of the animal kingdom. In life as in art, in the imagination as in the hard fact, the birds and the beasts are always there. Mortal sheep graze, of course, dogs bark in the night, badgers stalk the woodlands and the seatrout storm their heroic passages upstream. But there are immortal creatures too, in the grand menagerie of Wales. There are blazing dragons and strange white cattle. There are birds bearing love-messages for poets.”

Animals are magnificent: yet it seems we humans in our continuous quest to be the leaders of the pack are determined to destroy many of their wild habitats and that eventually will destroy them. Many have become extinct such as the Dodo; some have moved into the realms of folklore and many others will disappear without a trace. However contrarily for millennia humans have also revered animals and their magnificence; from the Neolithic cave paintings of Lascaux to the magnificence of Greco-Roman zoomorphic sculpture, Picasso’s visceral canvases and latterly through twentieth century documentary photography and film.

Animal Rites is a celebration of the fellow beings who cohabit our planet: an ode to those so many of us share our immediate lives with on a domestic level. Passionate about their subjects, dedicating their practice to their recognition and protection, the ten makers whose work we see in Animal Rites shine a light on some of the creatures that we share our world with. Distinctive and characterful examples of contemporary ceramic practice, some inspired directly from the natural world, others imagined from mythology, the historic narratives and the stories we are often told as children.

Rites are celebratory social customs, solemn acts; and act we must as David Attenborough recently said “The truth is, every one of us, no matter who we are or where we live, can and must play a part in restoring nature……It’s easy to feel overwhelmed or powerless by the scale of the issues facing our planet, but we have the solutions. I am hopeful for the future, because although nature is in crisis, now is the time for action, and together we can save it.”

Curated by Gregory Parsons

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22 Ebrill – 2 Gorffennaf 2023

Arddangoswyr: Louise Bell, Jack Durling, Liz Ellis, Susan Halls, Brendan Hesmondhalgh, Catrin Howell, Susan O’Byrne, Charlotte Mary Pack, 
Elaine Peto, Zoe Whiteside

Ugain mlynedd yn ôl ysgrifennodd Jan Morris gyflwyniad ysbrydoledig i sioe unigol gyntaf Catrin Howells. Dywedodd “Deep in the consciousness – or unconsciousness – of Welsh people live the creatures of the animal kingdom. In life as in art, in the imagination as in the hard fact, the birds and the beasts are always there. Mortal sheep graze, of course, dogs bark in the night, badgers stalk the woodlands and the seatrout storm their heroic passages upstream. But there are immortal creatures too, in the grand menagerie of Wales. There are blazing dragons and strange white cattle. There are birds bearing love-messages for poets.”

Mae anifeiliaid yn odidog ond eto mae’n ymddangos ein bod ni fodau dynol yn ein hymgais i oruchafu yn benderfynol o ddinistrio cymaint o’u cynefinoedd gwyllt fel y bydd hynny yn y pen draw yn eu difa. Aeth nifer fel y dodo i ddifancoll ac mae rhai wedi symud i fyd coelion gwerin a bydd llu o rai eraill yn diflannu heb adael dim o’u hôl. Ar y llaw arall, fodd bynnag, o baentiadau ogof Neolithig Lascaux i wychder cerflunwaith söomorffig Groeg-Rufeinig, canfasau cnawdol Picasso ac yn ddiweddar drwy ffotograffiaeth a ffilm ddogfennol yr ugeinfed ganrif, mae’r ddynoliaeth ers milenia wedi mawrygu anifeiliaid a’u hysblander.

Mae Defodau Anifeiliaid yn ddathliad o’r cyd-fodolion sy’n rhannu ein planed – cân i’r rheiny y mae cynifer ohonom yn cyd-fyw â nhw bob dydd ar lefel ddomestig. Mae’r deg gwneuthurwr sy’n arddangos gwaith yn Defodau Anifeiliaid yn angerddol dros eu pynciau, gan ymroi drwy eu hymarfer i’w cydnabod a’u hamddiffyn, ac yn taflu goleuni ar rai o’r creaduriaid rydyn ni’n rhannu’n byd â nhw. Dyma enghreifftiau neilltuol a llawn cymeriad o ymarfer cerameg cyfoes – rhai wedi’u hysbrydoli’n uniongyrchol gan fyd natur ac eraill yn dod o chwedlau, naratifau hanesyddol a’r straeon a adroddir yn aml i ni yn ein plentyndod.

Gweithredoedd cysegredig ac arferion cymdeithasol dathliadol yw defodau ac mae’n rhaid i ni weithredu ys dywedodd David Attenborough yn ddiweddar “The truth is, every one of us, no matter who we are or where we live, can and must play a part in restoring nature… It’s easy to feel overwhelmed or powerless by the scale of the issues facing our planet, but we have the solutions. I am hopeful for the future, because although nature is in crisis, now is the time for action, and together we can save it.”

Curadwyd gan Gregory Parsons

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