TIRIOGAETHAU’R HUNAN (2020)
TERRITORIES OF SELF (2020)

Deriving inspiration from a range of eclectic influences, from 14th Century China to the American Abstract Expressionism of the 1950s via Victorian era ‘Gaudy Welsh’ Pottery, ‘Territories of Self’ explores the idea of identity, in particular the idea of Welsh identity in a globalised society. 

Clay itself is a universal material and can be found on every continent. Throwing and assembling, Elin utilizes traditional methods of production that have been used internationally by humans to make vessels for tens of thousands of years. However, her self-described ‘Grandma Punk’ pots disregard the conventional rules of function. Instead they invoke a playfulness and naivety, a reverting back to childhood, a place where our sense of identity first starts to form as we begin to question where we belong in the world. 

Vessels contain, while also creating boundaries between two spaces. Here, they have been distorted, a metaphor for the fractured nature of time and place in our digital world where space is condensed and cultures across continents collide. Bulging, protruding and tearing at the edges these vessels encapsulate the anxiety of identity, the conflict between the introspection of clinging to Welsh heritage, while at the same time looking outward, and the excitement of being a ‘citizen of the world’.