Portal 2024 (ENG)

2024

CONTENTS
FOREWORD 02
INTRODUCTION 03
ALEX HOLLAND 04
ALICE BANFIELD 06
BETHAN HUGHES JONES 08
ELIN CROWLEY 10
EMMA ANDREWS 12
GWILYM PEARCE JONES 14
JANINA BACCHETTA 16
JENNIFER HODGEMAN 18
LENA JAJAWI 20
LUCY JONES 22
MARY CHRIS 24
MILITSA MILENKOVA 26
RHI CHRISTIE 28
STUART TAYLOR 30
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 32
Portal 2024 01

FOREWORD
Portal has nurtured and supported many graduates over the
years, with may past exhibitors continuing conversations and
collaborations with Llantarnam Grange to this day. This is
what makes Portal special and a vital part of our legacy.
Leaving education and going solo can be a very challenging and
uncertain time. Through Portal we offer support, advice, and a place
for artists to grow in confidence so that this transition feels less
daunting.
The work presented makes statements about the world and how we
navigate it, as well as being a celebration of skill and aesthetics.
Each group Llantarnam Grange has supported have delivered high
quality, unique ideas with each artist bringing positive energy to
the experience. This rich source of inspiration makes us hopeful for
future generations of artists and the role creativity can play in all our
futures.
This year’s graduates are once again pushing boundaries,
incorporating themes that are deeply personal while delicately
involving the viewer in their process.
Savanna Dumelow
Exhibitions Officier
Llantarnam Grange
02 Portal 2024

INTRODUCTION
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,
steel, textiles, sculpture, photography, and installation, Portal 2024
showcases a collection of 14 of this year’s graduates. With artists
from Welsh institutions such as Cardiff Met, UWTSD Swansea,
Carmarthen School of Art, and Aberystwyth School of Art, to
national universities such as Hereford College of Arts, Glasgow
School of Art, and the University of Hertfordshire. We hope this
exhibition captures the collective spirit and ideas coming out of art
schools this year.
The work on display shows a movement between indoors and
outdoors, with artists looking to nature and domestic space to
consider what small intimacies can tell us about the wider world,
and how our environment and landscape can shape who we are.
Through storytelling and constructing narratives, some work
uses characters to embody observations of class prejudice, or
to manifest the experience of being autistic. Others look to their
histories and families, sharing glimpses of their childhood, home
life, and experiences of immigration and resettling.
Domestic life is a shared theme, with artists drawing on their
routines, relationships, and the objects they interact with to show
what is both mundane and sentimental.
Moving outdoors into nature, the repetition of daily life can be seen
in our environment, as well as in the making process. From the
meticulous way spiders weave their webs, and the ongoing process
of erosion, to the techniques of printmaking, embroidery, and
crochet; there is an obsessive commitment to creativity.
With many artists being inspired by expressions of care, everyday
routines, and the journeys and experiences that make us who we
are, Portal 2024 creates an intimate portrait that encourages you to
reflect on your own position and to give time to understanding the
experience of others.
Portal 2024 03

ALEX HOLLAND
University of South Wales, BA (Hons) Photography
Accountability is a series of images carefully crafted within
a studio space by photographer Alex Holland, that express
the behaviours of privately educated young people in the UK
today.
Informed by his personal experience of class prejudice, as well as
how others were treated, Alex uses costumes, photography, and
editing, to question the structures and systems of private education,
and the real-world impacts of these environments.
Through becoming different characters with a range of expressions
and costumes, Alex imposes his scenes onto the viewer, using
editing to bring stories together.
Above: Accountability, 2024
Right: Accountability, 2024
04 Portal 2024

04 Portal 2024

ALICE BANFIELD
Cardiff Metropolitan University, Illustration & Animation (MA)
In the short story Vaster Than Empires and More Slow, by
Ursula K. Le Guin, the forest is a metaphor for the mind, you
“get lost in the forest, every night, alone.”, it is somewhere
that is “unexplored, unending…”
With this in mind, Alice manifests their experience of being autistic
into playful characters, as a way to challenge the language around
autism and its representation in media/culture, which often presents
it as a disease that needs to be cured.
Through seeing similarities between autistic people masking and
the shapeshifting creatures of her work, where both feel compelled
to change themselves to adapt to the environment, Alice uses a
range of materials, techniques and skills in 2D and sculptural work
that bring these characters to life as soft, talismanic portals into their
‘forest.’
Left: Welcome to the Greylands, 2024
Above: Eye Prison, 2024
Portal 2024 07

BETHAN HUGHES JONES
Cardiff Metropolitan University, Ceramics and Maker (MA)
Amser Maith i Ddod (A Long Time Coming/In the Future) is
a collection of artworks by Bethan Hughes that combine
research into art, history, and environmental change,
leading her through the landscape of South Wales and the
contemporary art world.
Bethan’s work is inspired by Turner’s historic sketchbook of Sgwd
Rhyd yr Hesg, Neath Valley, 1795. Since visiting the waterfall her
ceramic/glass sculptures and paintings have explored erosion and
the conflict between environmental issues and the industrial sector.
Above: Amser Maith i Ddod, 2024
Right Amser Maith i Ddod, 2024
08 Portal 2024

10 Portal 2024

ELIN CROWLEY
Aberystwyth School of Art, Fine Art (MA)
Elin Crowley is a printmaker inspired by the hills, mountains,
trees and the wildlife of the Welsh landscape. Raised on
a farm in Mid Wales, Elin feels a sense of belonging and
connection to the land.
This series of prints shows how her curiosity about landscape has
formed an integral part of her being, causing her to question the
privilege of this experience, and the safety she has always felt here.
Through considering what it would be like without this association or
space of safety, in a world that seems full of danger, Elin explores
agricultural sheds as a symbol of comfort, refuge and a place of
warmth.
Left: Y Sied Fawr, 2024
Above: Y Sied Goed, 2024
Portal 2024 11

EMMA ANDREWS
Cardiff Metropolitan University, BA (Hons) Fine Art
Emma Andrews’ work explores themes of the home and
her personal relationship with it.
As a homebody at heart, Emma looks to her household
surroundings and routines for comfort. Vivid colours are at the
centre of her paintings, celebrating the joy that these everyday
encounters can bring.
By carefully balancing personal perspective with aspects of
anonymity, Emma creates relatable pieces that gives space for you
to bring your own life and experiences to her daily domestic life;
celebrating the simplicity of the everyday.
Above: Bedtime, 2024
Right: Wet Sponge, 2024
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Portal 2024 13

GWILYM PEARCE JONES
Carmarthen Art School, BA (Hons) Fine Art
Gwilym Pearce Jones’ work is like a collage, made up of the
past and the present, re-textualizing narratives to combine
figures from historic art works and video games, such as The
Sims or Dungeons and Dragons.
Informed by religious imagery, Gwilym finds parallels with his
experience as a gay man and the wider queer experience to the
beauty and persecution depicted in biblical stories. His love of
storytelling creates abstract narratives, holding you inside his
painted worlds, allowing you to question the mythologies and
stories they are telling.
Left: Christeene 2024; Christeene and The Resurrection, 2024
Above:Detail: Christeene and The Betrayal 2024
Portal 2024 15

JANINA BACCHETTA
Hereford College of Art, Contemporary Crafts (MA)
Janina Bacchetta is a textile artist who uses cloth to narrate
her own stories and the lived experiences of others. This
work celebrates her experience of motherhood through
maternal material culture. Through creating nine conceptual
miniature quilts, Janina reflects on a moment of intimacy
between herself and her son.
These autobiographical pieces are a celebration of motherhood
between 2018 (the year her son was born) and 2020 (a pivotal
moment in her life). Nine photographs taken between these years
have been reimagined through textiles, hand embroidery, appliqué,
and coffee staining to capture Janina’s concept of feminist
motherhood.
Each miniature quilt is a visual materialisation that forms a record
of maternal memory in cloth. Janina looks for the joy in what she
creates, as well as the possibility of enticing positive social and
cultural change.
Above: Month 6 Reflections, 2024
Right: Month 2 Breastfeeding, 2024
16 Portal 2024

Portal 2024 17

JENNIFER HODGEMAN
Hereford College of Art, Contemporary Crafts (MA)
Jennifer Hodgeman creates crafted objects that explore
the differing ways we express care and kindness. Care is
culturally associated with the feminine or maternal, often
being seen as a domestic role. It is an act that can be
overlooked and taken for granted, absorbed by the daily
tasks of domestic life.
Jennifer takes the form of the spoon as a vehicle for giving of care.
Seeing it as a culturally feminine domestic object, Jennifer places
value on it through the materials and processes, using silver,
enamelled copper, and bone china slip. The final objects act as an
expression of care and kindness in themselves, both metaphorically
and physically.
Left: Topography of Care and Kindness, 2024
Above: Topography of Care and Kindness, 2024
Portal 2024 19

LENA JAJAWI
Morley College London
Lena Jajawi is an Iraqi British artist from London. She creates
both sculptural and functional forms that explore her culture,
as well as the duality of her Iraqi British identity.
From Home tells a story of migration and resettling. Each hanging
piece represents a different point in her family’s journey from Iraq to
England, providing a ‘window’ into their experiences. By referring to
stories and photographs provided by her family, Lena has created
designs that pay tribute to pottery styles from the Ancient Near East.
Lena is drawn to the storytelling element of these pottery styles, as
well as the creative use of pattern and symbolism, using a range
of techniques including throwing, hand building, slip casting, and
screen-printing.
Above: On the Move, 2024
Right: Mystery Faces, 2024
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22 Portal 2024

LUCY JONES
Cardiff Metropolitan University, Fine Art (BA)
Inspired by the intricate beauty of spiderwebs, Lucy Jones
makes crocheted installations that transform spaces into
captivating environments. Like a spider meticulously crafting
its intricate webs, Lucy meticulously crochets unique and
delicate patterns, adapting to, and taking over, spaces.
The way each piece stretches out creates immersive experiences
where you can explore the tension between fragility and strength,
control and chaos. Light casts mesmerizing shadows, illuminating
the intricate details of each piece. By using crocheted wire, Lucy
highlights the detail and intricacies of the process, showcasing the
artistic complexity of textiles art and crochet, to create a web of
creativity.
Left: Encroachment, 2024
Above: Encroachment 2024
Portal 2024 23

MARY CHRIS
University of Hertfordshire, Contemporary Design Crafts (Jewellery)
Using a range of techniques from enamelling to embroidery,
Mary Chris is a jewellery artist who shares her story of child
homelessness through the reimagination of household
objects into jewellery.
These pieces undergo a form of metamorphosis which facilitates
the transformation of the mind through sensitive narratives. Through
this reimagination, Mary Chris uses her work to take the audience
on a guided tour of her childhood, allowing her writing to assist
along the journey. With a whimsical and emotive foundation, she
encourages the audience to play with her pieces, which bring
together a more serious and less playful narrative. Through this, her
work’s external transformation reflects her internal contemplation.
Above: On remembrance, 2024
Right: On honour, 2024
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Portal 2024 25

26 Portal 2024

MILITSA MILENKOVA
Glasgow School of Art, Silversmithing and Jewellery
Militsa Milenkova has created a collection that explores the
impact of immigration at a very young age, and how this has
affected her relationship with extended family. By gathering
ordinary objects which belonged to her relatives, Militsa
contemplated how these seemingly insignificant items can
hold so many memories and be of such importance.
Through focusing on the negative spaces to create standalone
pieces that fit inside or around these belongings, Militsa creates
a metaphor for being simultaneously part and detached from
her family. The collection embodies a playful response to the
function of each object. It consists of functional, decorative, and
wearable pieces made in two parts. One in sterling silver and the
other in gilding metal, alluding to a life lived and one left behind.
It aims to engage you in an open dialogue about the challenges
of immigration and the sacrifices involved when making such a
decision.
Left: What Could Have Been but Never Was, 2024
Above: What Could Have Been but Never Was, 2024
Portal 2024 27

RHI CHRISTIE
Cardiff Metropolitan, Ceramics and Maker (MA)
Rhi Christie is inspired by flora, fauna and human interaction.
By taking parts of the natural world and offer them to others
for closer inspection she allows unexpected details to take
centre stage.
Beside the sea is a multisensorial sculpture that plays on the myth
of hearing the ocean inside a seashell. Through using sculptural
ceramics to house a curated sound piece, Rhi invites you to
experience a whimsical day spent at Barry Island. Put your ear to
the opening of the shell and close your eyes for a moment, listen to
the sounds of the beach, arcades and fairground of Cardiff’s local
seaside.
Above: Beside the sea, 2024
Right: Beside the sea, 2024
28 Portal 2024

Portal 2024 29

30 Portal 2024

STUART TAYLOR
Hereford College of Arts, Blacksmithing (BA)
Stuart Taylor is an artist blacksmith who creates sculptural
works. His artistic practice is often evolutionary in nature,
allowing a dialogue with the material, giving them space to
have a ‘voice’.
Stuart mainly works with hot steel, drawing inspiration from a
wide range of sources, most notably nature and his immediate
surroundings. Recent work has involved the production of a limited
edition of 12 tempered stainless-steel bowls, each measuring 16cm
in diameter. The bowls are hand forged from a single length of
material and are finished using an electropolished process before
final tempering to create the iridescent colour.
Left: Corbeled Vessels II, 2024
Above: Corbeled Vessels II, 2024
Portal 2024 31

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Portal 2024
A Llantarnam Grange Exhibition
Published by Llantarnam Grange ©LG 2024
Llantarnam Grange is a part of Arts Council Wales ‘Arts Portfolio Wales’
Registered Charity no: 1006933. Company Limited by Guarantee no: 2616241
Llantarnam Grange is funded by the Arts Council of Wales and Torfaen County
Borough Council.
This publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form without
written permission from the publisher.
With thanks to:
Guest selector Sadia Pineda Hameed, Artist
Arts Council of Wales and Torfaen County Council
Llantarnam Grange
St David’s Road, Cwmbran
Torfaen, NP44 1PD
01633 483321
llantarnamgrange.com
34 Portal 2024