GALLERY 1
PORTAL 2023
12 AUGUST – 4 NOVEMBER
Portal is our annual group exhibition of graduate artists and makers that aims to demystify working in the arts. By giving new voices support, tools, and the opportunity to develop skills, Portal reaches beyond the gallery walls to give emerging artists the best possible start for forging sustainable careers.
Through a constellation of practices that range from ceramics, textiles, metal work, photography, and installation, Portal 2023 showcases a collection of 15 of this year’s graduates. With artists from Welsh institutions such as Cardiff Met, UWTSD Swansea and Carmarthen School of Art, to national universities such as Hereford College of Arts, Manchester School of Art MMU, and the University of Edinburgh. We hope this exhibition captures the collective spirit and ideas coming out of art schools this year.
The work on display explores a sensitive relationship to craft and process, with artists showing care and consideration in their choice of materials, their chosen subjects, and how these are communicated.
While some have looked inward to explore how we relate to ourselves and our bodies, from the masks we wear, to our emotional wellbeing, and what literally runs through our veins; others have considered how we, and the processes we use, relate to the land.
From being conscious to minimise the environmental impacts of their craft, documenting life on an eco-farm, or through sculptures that allow you to become part of the forest floor, there is a clear investment in alternative ways of being.
Through all these different subjects, politics is always present. From feminism and body positivity, to environmentalism, Welsh language, or in the commemoration of specific tragic events.
With many artists being influenced by protest and activism, Portal 2023 shares a collective desire to stand up for ourselves, others, and our surroundings.
Featuring work from:
Ananda Hill, Bonnie Grace, Clare Stephens, Ffion Williams, Gabriel Showell-Nicholas, Hannah Sharpe, Jackie Stephens, Jessica Agar, Madelaine Atkinson, Niamh O’Dobhain, Rosie Merriman, Rowan Lickerish, Sarah Grounds, Thomas Radburn, Valerie O’Donnell.
