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. EIRIAN LLWYD
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 "Yr Hendy Dduwian", 2001 lino cut 41x30cm edition of 20 |
 "Bryn Celli Ddu", 2002 collograph 30x48cm |
 "Llanddwyn", 2003 etching on copper 30x21cm edition of 20 |
Eirian Llwyd was born in 1950 in Denbigh/North Wales. From 1998 to 2001 she studied Fine Art at the School of Art at University of Wales Institute Cardiff, BA(Hons). Before that she attended Coleg Menai in Bangor and Brunel University in London. She is married to the Welsh politician Ieuan Wyn Jones AM, and has her studio in Anglesey.
Artist's Statements:
About her fine art print making - "I am enthusiastic to distraction with the possibilities that the processes of printmaking offer an artist. The golden age of printmaking occurred during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century with important artists and art collectors but the market failed to recover following the Wall Street crash. Most highly respected and renowned artists have created important works using the various print mediums but few have established names as printmakers alone."
About the environment in which she works - "I am often struck by the sharp, clear light, the low horizons and the influence of the wind on trees and banks. My work reflects a landscape that can be uncompromisingly bleak or amazingly beautiful, peaceful or magical. Yet there is a dichotomy in my feeling of belonging and not belonging to the place. There is a preponderance of prehistoric relics on Anglesey. The Neolithic mounds, the standing stones, patterns on stones at Barclodiad y Gawres or the Celtic head found at Hendy farm all remind one how a people and identity can survive and how the Welsh language is a link between then and now. I have enormous pleasure in watching ravens fly. They are skilled acrobats. Their strange and unique sound carry for long distances. They are often referred to in European mythology, often being symbols of death and darkness. But according to the Welsh Mabinogi they represent beneficent otherworldly creatures associated with Rhiannon. They are important in relation to my themes as birds which inhabit a certain place all their lives. They have survived over the centuries, offering us hope and a challenge perhaps."
Datganiad yr Arlunydd:
"Mae’r gyfres o brintiadau sydd yn yr arddangosfa yma yn ymwneud â lle arbennig, sef Ynys Môn ar argraffiadau mae’r lle wedi ei gael ar un o Ddyffryn Clwyd. Mae tirwedd a golygfeydd Môn yn wahanol iawn i’r rheiny sydd yn fy nghartref i ac mi fydd hyn fel fy acen yn atgoffa un nad ydw i “o ffor hyn”. Mi fyddai’n rhyfeddu at olau clir Môn, y gorwelion isel ac effaith y tywydd ar y coed a’r cloddiau. Mae’r gwaith yn adlewyrchu tirwedd a all fod yn ddigyfaddawd o foel neu yn hynod o brydferth, yn llonydd neu’n hudolus. Eto mae deuoliaeth yn y teimlad o berthyn a pheidio perthyn yma. Mae toreth o olion cyn hanesol ym Môn. Mae’r mwngloddiau neolithig, y meini hirion, patrymau ar gerrig Barclodiad y Gawres neu’r pen Celtaidd fferm yr Hendy yn atgoffa un sut y gall tras oroesi.a bod yr iaith Gymraeg yn ddolen gyswllt rhyngddo’ nhw a ni. Mae cerdd arbennig iawn gan yr Athro Gwyn Thomas i Bryn Celli Ddu lle mae’n dweud: “ Eithr yn ein gwaed y mae eu bod Yn gyfrinach rudd yn sugno trwy ein calonnau. Yn gwlwm bywyd, yn afael o adnabod “ Mi fyddai wrth fy modd yn gwylio brain a chigfrain yn arbennig, adar sy’n yn hedfanwyr heb eu hail ac yn edrych fel petaent yn mwynhau hedfan.Bydd eu sw^n unigryw a chyntefig dwfn yn cario’n bell. Mae iddynt le pwysig ym mytholeg Ewrop fel symbol o dywyllwch a marwolaeth ond yn ôl Pedair Cainc y Mabinogi mae cigfrain yn greaduriaid arallfydol a bendithiol. Mae cyfeiriad at rai o hen deuluoedd Môn sy’n arddel yr hen grefydd fel rhai sy’n “siarad ‘fo’r brain”. maen nhw’n bwysig yng nghyd destun fy themâu i hefyd am eu bod yn adar eu cynefin. Mae newid mewn cynefin yn medru brifo- mae’r cigfrain wedi gweld newidiadau mawr dros y canrifoedd ond wedi goroesi-sialens a gobaith i ninnau hefyd efallai. Mi rydw i’n frwdfrydig hyd obsesiwn bron am bosibiliadau printio fel cyfrwng celf. Mae’n gyfrwng sydd wedi methu ail sefydlu ar ôl y Wall Street crash wedi cyfnod euraid gyda chasglwyr print. Er bod y rhan fwyaf o arlunwyr mawr y byd wedi gwneud gwaith pwysig trwy ddefnyddio’r gwahanol prosesau printio, ychydig sydd wedi creu enw ar sail waith print yn unig. Mae peth dryswch hefyd ymysg y cyhoedd yngly^n â beth a olygir wrth printiadau gwreiddiol a phrintiadau atgynhyrchiadol sydd wedi eu cynhyrchu gyda phrosesau ffotomecanyddol".
Tom Piper, head of Printmaking/School of Art & Design at UWIC says about Eirian Llwyd: "She describes the atmosphere of the Welsh landscape using the graphic media of drawing and print. The shapes and tones of the mostly monochromatic prints create a serious yet lyric emotional flavour. For instance, Eirian might show a view of a muddy bank with tiny flowers or an isolated wind turbine in a Welsh landscape, images which describe a world unadorned by nostalgia. Conversely, under a dark sky, a crow hovers above a standing stone in a huge, romantic woodcut, illustrating another approach to this artist’s developing sense of place. The prints all contain an ambition for a personal and poetic vision."