In 2014, came an important and celebratory anniversary for Swansea – a hundred years since the birth of Swansea’s most famous and admired poet in 1914. Thomas’s legacy – a creative seam – runs deep and wide in Swansea, Wales and across the world.
Printmaking, like writing, continues to evolve, exploring new ideas and new ways for expressing creative ideas: digital prints, digital drawing, e-publishing. At the same time traditional methods have retained their value and in some areas have seen a resurgence such as the use of wood type and interest in artist books within a contemporary framework.
“I make one image—though ‘make’ is not the right word; I let, perhaps, an image be ‘made’ emotionally in me and then apply to it what intellectual & critical forces I possess—let it breed another, let that image contradict the first, make, of the third image bred out of the other two together, a fourth contradictory image, and let them all, within my imposed formal limits, conflict.” Dylan Thomas
Writers and artists share a common desire and need: to create an image, whether it be a visual representation or one of text and there is an established history of artists across mediums working successfully together, creating something more than the sum of two parts. It is around this shared creative process and the relationship between text and image that the project built a varied programme of literature and visual arts events and activities in 2013 to 2014.
Eighteen Wales-based established and emerging printmakers explored the theme ‘belonging’ inspired by selected texts by Dylan Thomas and two past winners of the contemporary literature prize, Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize:
Hunchback in the Park by Dylan Thomas Return Journey by Dylan Thomas
Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead Fresh Apples by Rachel Trezise
The rich theme of belonging runs through art and literature across the ages and cultures: feelings of identity, community, exile and alienation provoke strong responses. And a ‘sense of belonging’ resonates with artists and writers who are both observers and yet a part of what they observe.
The artists’ responses to the theme were varied: they visited old haunts and made new discoveries of self and place; they remembered childhood experiences, made fresh connections with familiar spaces; they considered the role of artist and writer in society and rediscovered the value of family, community and country.
The prints stand for themselves but each printmaker also offered a written response collected together in the accompanying publication in which we were delighted to include an original piece from contemporary author Rachel Trezise, winner of the inaugural prestigious Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize.
The project supported the artists in the creation of fine-art prints and artists books through a range of contemporary and traditional techniques and the resulting collection of work not only celebrates contemporary printmaking but the wider creative community in Wales.
The exhibition opened the year-long programme at the Ceri Richard’s Gallery, Taliesin Arts Centre, Swansea to celebrate the centenary year of Dylan Thomas’s birth and continued to tour in various venues across Wales in the following months.
Contributing Artists: David Barron | Lynne Bebb | Lucy Donald | Alan Figg | Jackie Ford | Graeme Galvin | Rosy Ind | Jane Jones | Hannah Lawson | Lesley Lillywhite | Robert Macdonald | Ruth Parmiter | Carys Roberts | Kara Seaman | Bridget Stevens | Judith Stroud | Adele Vye | Pip Woolf
Each artist produced a limited edition [30] of their print to create fourteen boxed sets of eighteen prints. The boxed set and publication are ISBN registered with an accompanying two-fold Colophon. The artwork is printed to a single size of 38 x 48 cm on selected acid free papers. The box is covered with a fine Colorado bookcloth, Gangees lined with Sirio Blu by The Fine Book Bindery.
The boxed sets are in the collections of the six UK and Ireland National Libraries: The British Library; The Bodleian Library, Oxford; The University Library, Cambridge; The National Library of Scotland; The Library of Trinity College, Dublin; The National Library of Wales. It is also held in the collection of Swansea University Library.
View our fully illustrated catalogue here (copyright SPW) which also features an original piece by Rachel Tresize, winner of the inaugral prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize.
More information and images of this project can be seen on the dedicated blog: Dylan Thomas Dialogues, connecting image and text, artists and writers.
A framed set of sixteen prints, boxed set for display purposes, beautifully designed, bilingual catalogue for sale and illustrative material for wall display are available as a Touring Exhibition. Please see Touring Exhibitions for further details and how to book.
The Project Team: Jackie Ford: Project Director | Sarah Jackman: Project Coordinator and Marketing Officer | Hannah Lawson: Administrative and Events Assistant | Rhian Wolfe: Volunteer Marketing and Administrative Assistant
Deialogau Dylan Thomas | 2013-14 | Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru
Fel cyfrannwr sylweddol i’r diwydiannau creadigol yn Abertawe a Chymru tybiwyd ei bod hi’n addas I ddathlu penblwydd canmlwyddiant geni Dylan Thomas gyda Phrosiect cyflwynedig. Trwy gyfrwng Deialogau Dylan Thomas, cynigwyd platfform i ddeialogau am y broses greadigol rhwng llenorion ac arlunwyr gweledol ac hefyd rhwng argraffwyr o ddisgyblaethau gwahanol. Bellach, datblygwyd sgiliau’r arlunwyr cyfrannol wrth iddynt gynhyrchu a gwerthu argraffiadau o safon uchel.
This project took place in 2014 and was made possible by funding through the Arts Council of Wales.
