Oriel Q - Queens Hall Gallery, High Street, Narberth, Pembrokeshire, SA67 7AS [t] 01834 869454 Manager: Lynne Crompton
Christine Kinsey
Ymddiddan/Colloquy
23 March to 21 April
Christine Kinsey is an artist who writes and integrates words into her visual language creative process. A ‘conversation’ between the image and the word has been central to the development of these paintings and drawings, which records a voice that explores the relationship between an inner world, an outer world and otherworldliness.
The layers of influence that have evolved from growing up female in the industrial valleys of south east Wales and the reassessment of the perception and depiction of women within a Celtic Christian culture form a backdrop against which each character enacts a role.
The theme of enclosure and liberation are vehicles that articulate the narrative line revealing the characters continuing search for a way to bridge the gap between a secular society and a spiritual inner life. The words of the artist / writer David Jones and the poet R.S. Thomas, whose imagery explores the interface between the worldly, the spirit and the imagination are interwoven into the narrative line of these recent paintings and drawings.
Christine Kinsey was co-founder and Artistic Director of Chapter Workshops and Centre for the Arts, Cardiff, co-founder of Artists and Designers in Wales Association, and Artistic Adviser to Cardiff City Council on the re-development of Cardiff City Centre between 1968 and 1976. 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 has had four solo touring exhibitions, and has exhibited and has paintings in collections in Belgium, Caribbean, Catalonia, Eire, England, Lithuania, Scotland, Switzerland, Wales, and 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, Cardiff. She is the recipient of numerous awards. Her paintings were shown in META, a touring exhibition initiated by Christine Kinsey, featuring collaborative work by poets and painters, which was exhibited in five venues including Arka Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania in conjunction with the Poetry Spring Festival 2002. Paintings from the series Llais were exhibited at the Opera House, Vilnius in 2000, and at Sofa Gallery, Druskininkai, Lithuania in partnership with Menna Elfyn as part of the Poetic Fall Arts Festival 2003. Her exhibition Ymddiddan/Colloquy will be shown in Newport Museum and Art Gallery, Gwent from 22 July to 2 September 2006. The book Imaging the Imagination. An exploration of the relationship between the image and the word in the art of Wales which she initiated and co-edited with Dr Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan, was published in 2005 by Gwasg Gomer.
Christine Kinsey with Gilly Adams, who opened the exhibition on Friday 23 March
Y Ddawns/The Dance – oil on canvas 38 x 48 cm
Ymddiddan/Colloquy (3) | Yr Adwy/The Gap
1.55 m x 1.55 m oil on canvas | pencil, charcoal and gouache on paper