Bronwen Gwillim.
Collected together for the first time in this exhibition Ship to Shore are award winning artist Bronwen Gwillim’s paintings, collages, sculptures and jewellery showing the range and versatility of her work.
When Bronwen initially studied painting in the 80’s at Goldsmiths College she rejected traditional materials and chose instead to work with henna, chalk and turmeric. Later at Camberwell School of Art she was drawn to using scrap metals and she made jewellery from brass and copper. This theme of recycling and repurposing continued through her MA in textiles at Bath Spa University to include the use of plastics and cloth. The urge to use things that others have thrown away is still the driving force behind her work.
Now living on East Angle Bay in South Pembroke at the end of a narrow peninsula that juts out into the mouth of Milford Haven she is surrounded by both incredible natural beauty and also the inescapable presence of the fossil fuel industry with its huge tankers and oil refinery.
It is a place rich with colour: natural ochres from the eroding cliffs, bright plastic washed up on the beach, things collected from her neighbours such as discarded cloth and art materials. Almost everything she needs to make paintings, sculptures and jewellery is gathered within a mile or so of her home.
Despite crossing the boundaries of art and craft and being known for both her jewellery and painting, it is her use of colour, shape and texture that unifies her work. Her inspiration for these comes directly from the place she lives. The shapes of jetties and ships hulls, the lines of ploughed fields rolling down to the shore, florescent buoys against mud at low tide, and the interplay between seaweed and ripples on water all play their part.
She has exhibited widely in Wales and the uk, she gained the Canfas award at Craft Festival Wales 2024 was selected for Y Lle Celf at The National Eisteddfod in both 2025 and 2026 and has had showcases of her work at Canfas, Mostyn Gallery in Llandudno and Oriel Myrddin in Carmarthen. She is currently lead artist on a two year project about waste at Mission Gallery in Swansea.
