A new large-scale work by a blacksmith and metal artist has been awarded the Gold Medal for Fine Art at the 2024 Rhondda Cynon Taf National Eisteddfod
Angharad Pearce Jones will receive the Medal and the prize money in a ceremony on the Eisteddfod Field in Pontypridd on the opening day of the Festival.
Angharad, who lives with her family in Brynaman, said she was delighted to win the award in Pontypridd.
"I’ve been involved with the National Eisteddfod for a quarter of a century. I’ve exhibited at Y Lle Celf several times, been a selector, chaired the visual arts panel, and had the privilege of creating the Crown but I’ve never won before.
"And coming top in Rhondda Cynon Taf is more special as my mother’s from Pontypridd and I was named after Ynysangharad Park. I used to come to town to see my grandparents and visit the park," she said.
There are two pieces of Angharad's work in Y Lle Celf and it’ll certainly place visitors on one side of the fence or the other, by presenting a simple choice - enter the gallery through the left or right door.
The work was developed in response to Angharad's perception that divisions in society had increased following the Brexit referendum in 2016.
The piece was originally built in her home during the lockdown period splitting through the kitchen table and dining room with a palisade fence. The Covid-19 pandemic brought new meaning to the piece, but Angharad says it suggests any division or boundary, and raises so many questions about the nature and impact of personal and political choices.
"I believe that the purpose of art is to start a discussion and I'm sure this piece, 'Which side of the fence are you on', will do that," she said.
The second piece is Pinc. Part of a fence bent to reflect the hidden gap that young people would use to gain access, without paying, to a sports centre in the Swansea area.
Ffion Rhys, one of the three selectors for this year's competition, said of Angharad's work: "On the surface it seems simple and easy to access - it lures you in with craft, skill, ‘sets' created for you to immerse yourself in and play your part, and an unexpected mix of materials.
"My experience of her work is that people always stand up and talk - about the complex subjects she presents, such as politics, popular culture, motherhood, feminism, lust, systems the power and identity of the Welsh."
Originally from Bala, Angharad graduated with a BA (Hons) in Design and Craft at Brighton University in 1991 and completed an MA in Fine Art at Cardiff School of Art. She supports her art by working as a commercial blacksmith.
In her early career there was a clear distinction between her artwork and commercial work but over the years they’ve become interdependent.
"I notice the sculptural potential in everything made of steel - from agricultural fences, sports stadium turnstiles, prams, and scaffold poles, to the dust that hides on my disc cutter," he says.
Her first major installation consisted of scaffolding poles wrapped in wallpaper, hanging like curtains from the ceiling of a gallery in Cardiff. Its intention was to draw attention to the state of Welsh heavy industry, miners' halls and the changing role of workers.
For an exhibition at the Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff she began her investigation into the relationship between near-naked 'pin-ups' and heavy industry, and received an Award from the Arts Council of Wales to produce “Pa Ferch? Dewiswch chi..." The piece was later shown at the 2005 National Eisteddfod in Bangor.
In 2009 Angharad was the main designer of the Wales exhibition at the Smithsonian Festival in Washington DC and in 2012, so angry because she couldn't get tickets for the London Olympics, she expressed her frustration in an interactive installation of fences, turnstiles and doors with no but one way through.
In 2019 Angharad was included in the Welsh Government's trade trip to Japan to coincide with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. However, the Covid-19 pandemic prevented them from travelling.
The Rhondda Cynon Taf National Eisteddfod in Ynysangharad Park, Pontypridd runs from August 3-10. More details online at eisteddfod.cymru.
