Roedd Elen Mai Wyn-Jones (1982-2015) yn artist Cymreig a oedd gweithio mewn amrywiaeth o gyfryngau – gan weithio gyda thecstilau yn bennaf – cyhoeddodd ffansîns ei hun ac roedd yn ymgyrchydd iechyd meddwl ar lawr gwlad.
Mewn amgylchiadau trist, bu farw Elen bedair blynedd yn ôl ac mae'r arddangosfa hon yn cynnwys tameidiau o’i gwaith. Oherwydd sefyllfaoedd tai a oedd yn aml yn ansicr (yn enwedig tua diwedd ei hoes) collwyd rhywfaint o'i gwaith ar hyd y ffordd – mae cyfeillion wedi helpu i ddod â'r gweithiau celf sy'n cael eu harddangos ynghyd; dinistriwyd eraill gan Elen ei hun. Yn ogystal â bod yn deyrnged deilwng i fywyd a chelf Elen rydym yn gobeithio y bydd yr arddangosfa hon yn eich gwahodd i ystyried sut mae'r byd celf yn trin artistiaid “o'r tu allan”, a sut y gallwn roi gwell cefnogaeth i'r rheini â salwch meddwl ym mhob agwedd o gymdeithas.
"Roedd fy mherthynas â chelf bob amser yn hynod daer. Mae'n beth sy’n emosiwn craidd. Dyma a achubodd fi mewn gwirionedd, pan oeddwn yn yr ysbyty, dyma’r unig beth a helpodd fi... Nid yw’r rhan fwyaf o bobl sy'n hunaniaethu’n berson â phroblemau iechyd meddwl neu sydd â’r label hwnnw – beth bynnag y dymunwch ei alw – byth yn cael eu cyfrif fel rhai sy'n arloesol iawn neu'n radical, ond myth yn unig yw hynny. Rydyn ni'n ceisio dadlau y dylai'r math o gelfyddyd rydyn ni'n ei gwneud fel pobl ar y cyrion gael ei gwerthfawrogi a'i pharchu lawn cymaint â rhywbeth proffesiynol.”
Prif ddiddordeb Elen oedd defnyddio tecstilau a chelf wedi'i gwau, a oedd yn sail i'w gosodiadau a'i chelf wal. Roedd hi’n cyfuno’r deunyddiau cyfarwydd –a chysurus hyn – weithiau wedi’u creu yn wrthrychau a cyfwisgoedd patrymog, gydag elfennau crai a annisgwyl eraill; gan greu awyrgylch sy'n aml yn cael ei ystyried yn sinistr.
"Rwy'n gweithio'n bennaf drwy gyfrwng gwaith gwau, crosio a thecstiliau, gan fod gan y mathau hyn o grefft hanes yn fy nheulu ac wedi cael eu pasio i lawr gan fy nain a’m mam i mi. Rwy'n gweld y system fatriarchaidd hon o gyfnewid gwybodaeth a sgiliau yn werthfawr; a hefyd yn mwynhau ail-osod yn iawn ar ffurf gwaith gosod. Mae ail-bwrpasu gweithgareddau domestig yn thema sy'n rhedeg drwy fy ngwaith – wrth i mi geisio mynegi'r ystyr drawsnewidiol, symbolaidd a defodol y mae'r gwrthrychau hyn yn eu cynnwys wrth eu rhoi mewn cyd-destun gwahanol na'u defnydd bwriadedig."
Un o brif ddiddordebau Elen yn ei chelf oedd chwarae gyda, a gwyrdroi'r drafodaeth yn y ddadl Celfyddyd Gain yn erbyn Crefft. Priodolodd hyn i'w phrofiad ei hun o'r ddadl hon, a ddehonglwyd ganddi fel ymgais gan y Byd Celf i eithrio rhai mathau o allbwn celf ddiwylliannol a sefydliadol, drwy eu dosbarthu fel bod yn Gelfyddyd annerbyniol (yn hytrach eu categoreiddio fel ffurfiau ‘o'r tu allan’), gan annog asesiad voyeistig o'r artist, yn hytrach na y gelfyddyd ei hun.
“Wrth weithio, rwy’n ceisio ysgogi’r plentyn sydd tu fewn i mi – rhan o fy psyche sy'n profi trasiedi a llawenydd och yn ochr mewn modd cyntefig; ac yn dymuno i foddhau ei hanghenion ar unwaith. Trwy fy ymdrechion i gyfosod diniweidrwydd y plentyn, yn ogystal â'i elfennau tywyllach, a chwilio am yr ysbrydol trwy greu, rwy’n ceisio mynegi hiwmor tywyll a symboliaeth bywyd; a sut mae seicoleg yr 'hunan' yn chwarae ei ran yn ein dehongliad o'n profiadau."
Graddiodd Elen o Brifysgol Cymru, Casnewydd yn 2009 gyda Gradd Anrhydedd Dosbarth Cyntaf mewn Celfyddyd Gain. Creodd osodiad ar gyfer Cynulliad Cymru fel rhan o ddathliadau pen-blwydd Mind Cymru yn 40 oed gan arwain at gydweithrediad perfformiadol am wythnos yn Eisteddfod Genedlaethol 2012. Roedd ei harddangosfeydd yn cynnwys nifer o sioeau yn lolfa Milgi, Caerdydd, cyfraniad unigol a grŵp gyda'r arddangosfa gan Tracey Moberly Tweet-me-up! yn y Tate Modern ac arddangos yn y siop gysyniad ac oriel Cult Mountain yn Shoreditch, Llundain.
Roedd hi'n gyd-sylfaenydd yr undod We R 4 Real, sef rhwydwaith o bobl greadigol a gafodd eu hysbrydoli gan fudiad ‘Mad Pride’ sydd â'r nod o chwalu gwahaniaethu yn erbyn materion iechyd meddwl yn y sector creadigol a'r gymdeithas ehangach. Roedd ei chyfres o zines yn cael eu galw'n Bitch, Please gyda theitl a thema wahanol ar gyfer pob rhifyn – disgrifiodd Elen nhw fel ‘Dark Wave Femme Queercore Zines’. Yn ogystal, roedd Elen hefyd yn arlunydd stryd, yn aml yn rhoi ei gwaith celf i fyny o amgylch Caerdydd ar ffurf wedi’i pastio a stensiliau.
Elen Mai Wyn-Jones (1982-2015) was a Welsh artist who worked in a variety of media – primarily working with textiles – published her own zines and was a grassroots mental health activist.
In unfortunate circumstances, Elen died four years ago and this exhibition is comprised of fragments of her body of work. Due to often precarious housing situations (especially towards the end of her life) some of her work was lost along the way – friends have helped to piece together the artworks displayed; others were destroyed by Elen herself. As well as being a fitting tribute to Elen’s life and art we hope this exhibition will invite you to consider how the art world treats ‘outsider’ artists; and how we can better support those with mental illness in all aspects of society.
“My relation to art was always very desperate. It’s an emotional gut thing. It was what saved me really, when I was in hospital it was the only thing that helped me… Most people who identify with having mental health problems or have got that label – whatever you want to call it – they’re never counted as being very cutting edge or radical, but that’s just a myth. We’re trying to argue that the kind of art we do as outsiders should be valued and revered just as much as a professional thing”.
Elen’s main interest was in the use of textiles and knitted art, which formed the basis of both her installations and wall art. She combined these familiar – and comforting – materials, sometimes made into patterned objects and accessories, with other raw and surprising elements; producing an atmosphere often perceived as sinister.
“I mainly work through the medium of knit, crochet and textile work, as these forms of craft have a history in my family and have been passed down from my grandmother and mother to me. I see this matriarchal system of exchanging information and skills as valuable; and also enjoy re-appropriating it in the form of installation work. The re-appropriation of domesticity is a theme running through my work – as I seek to express the transformative, symbolic and ritualistic meaning that these objects contain when put in to a different context than their intended use.”
One of Elen’s main preoccupations was to play with and subvert the discourse in the Fine Arts versus Craft debate. She attributed this to her own experience of this debate; which she interpreted as a ploy by the Art World to exclude some forms of cultural and institutional art output, by classifying them as unacceptable as Art (rather categorising them as 'outsider' forms), prompting a voyeuristic assessment of the artist, rather than the art itself.
“When working, I try to invoke the child inside myself – a part of my psyche which experiences tragedy and joy in an immediate primal fashion; and desires to have its needs instantly gratified. By my attempts to juxtapose the innocence of the child, as well as its darker elements, and a search for the spiritual through creation I seek to express the dark humour and symbolism of life; and how the psychology of the 'self' plays its part in our interpretation of our experiences.”
Elen graduated from The University of Wales, Newport in 2009 with a First Class Honours degree in Fine Art. She created an installation for the Welsh Assembly as part of Mind Cymru’s 40th Birthday celebrations and led a week-long performative collaboration at the National Eisteddfod 2012. Her exhibitions included numerous shows at the Milgi Lounge, Cardiff, solo and group involvement with Tracey Moberly's exhibition Tweet-me-up! at the Tate Modern and exhibiting in concept shop and gallery Cult Mountain in Shoreditch, London.
She was the co-founder of the We R 4 Real collective, a network of creatives who were been inspired by the 'Mad Pride' movement that aim to break down discrimination against mental health issues in the creative sector and wider society. Her series of zines were called Bitch, Please with a different title and theme for each issue – Elen described them as ‘Dark Wave Femme Queercore Zines’. Furthermore, Elen was also a street artist, often putting her artwork up around Cardiff in the form of paste-ups and stencils.