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. |
| 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. |
|
Soliloquy
1 -
oil on canvas - 152.5 x 152.5cms |
Deposition
-
oil on canvas - 36 x 46cms |
|
Waiting
-
oil on canvas - 20 x 25cms |
|
Unite
- oil on canvas - 77 x 102cms
|
|
Yn Null Sassetta
- oil on canvas - 41 x 31cm
|
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. |
|
Guardians
of a Spiritual Memory -
oil on board
41 x 31cms |
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:christinekinsey@skymarket.org |
|
|
|
|
