Land : Tir

Sculpture Cymru
Land :  Hir
May 24 to July 5 2026

Andy Kaye, Billie Ireland, Dilys Jackson, Heather Burnley, Karin Mear, Myra Ryan, Nick Lloyd, Nigel Ash, Paul Mitchell, Philippine Sowerby, Rob White, Susan Forster & Susan Roberts

Our theme “Land” as developed in conjunction with Mid Wales Arts is intended to reflect a number of discussions about the make up of Sculpture Cymru and its association with the Arts Centre since we first showed here as a group in 2016. As a group of sculptors we tend to be concerned with the making of autonomous free standing objects , some are figurative, some less so, made of many traditional materials, so, metal, clay, stone, wood paper and mixed media are often called on but photography, drawing, and the processes of making as in Billie Ireland’s bio char are often in evidence. Land is a reference out of necessity because of where we live, rural and urban, we are subject to gravity and negotiate the world with our embodied selves. We are in a place, studio, gallery, city or village trying to make sense of the world and perhaps sometimes escaping from it. Our practice is our refuge and consolation too, but also our way of understanding the world, Its material and its potential for change. Most of us have an art school background – some more immersed in this than others, but the key thing we have in common is our reference to place, to where we work and the culture within which it is necessary to reference space, land and a future.  Materials (of the land, so stone, clay, wood, plaster etc.) are part of our learnt language to call on in the studio, and enable us to recognise what is possible and what can be done to engage with the world as we find it. Weight, gravity and cost all play their part, as do themes, ideas, scale and the world of emotion. With these attributes we can gain some tools to test and challenge our experience, develop an awareness of risk, the testing of danger and courage as professional careers flourish, develop and change. One thing that I think remains of importance to us is the need to maintain skills, to develop new skills and encourage the learning  of others.

Exhibitions, a long list of catalogues to reference and an interest in showing work in meaningful places are indicative of a determination to seek out an audience for our diverse practices so that we have shown in venues  including castles (Kidwelly)  a former abbey,  (Strata Florida) a theatre in Hereford, the Carmarthen Botanical Gardens, and Dyffryn Gardens between Cardiff and Barry. Many of these shows have also enabled the running of workshops in stone carving, iron casting and construction. All of the above reference a diversity of landscape and place, reflecting  the curious issue that we live in some cases quite far apart from each other, making it difficult to maintain cohesion within the group. Two substantial exhibitions however indicate the commitment we have continued to sustain, the exhibition held in 2021 to celebrate twenty years of the group being together at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, which offered a catalogue with a valuable historical references to the development of the group and its context within Wales;  and the show a Meeting of Minds held at Barry in 2024/5 where members were invited to exhibit with guest artists which resulted in a remarkable show of work at Barry Art Central, well visited and favourably received enabling a number of new members to join the group.
We hope that the current show alongside our most recent show at MOMA in Machynlleth earlier this year may foster similar possibilities for active practice and engagement with our many visitors.

Nick Lloyd
Acting Chair, Sculpture Cymru. May 2026