Glyndwr University student to discuss art and inspiration during Bangor-based exhibition

An artist who returned to postgraduate study after several years will be showing her work at an exhibition in Bangor which begins this weekend.

Lorna Bates, an MA student at Wrexham Glyndwr University, was among nine artists hand-picked to take part in the Ymyl 2 Edge programme, where participants combine art and technology in innovative ways.

An exhibition of work from the programme begins this weekend with a private viewing at Bangor’s Pontio Arts centre, and will then run until February 10 in the White Box Innovation Space.

Like other participants in the exhibition, Lorna’s work uses a range of practices and devices, with a number of recent pieces revolving around the use of stencils. As part of the programme, she has been creating these in the FabLabs at Pontio – as well as working on wider pieces back at her studio in Glyndwr’s Regent Street Campus.

She said: “It has been very interesting using new technology to create work – for instance, I’ve been using cutting equipment to create stencils.

“It’s not just about the technology itself, however – I’m also interested in the mistakes which occur in the process of creation that can happen when you are using stencils.

“I’ll work to replicate some of them again at the next stage, and use that serendipity to develop my ideas.

“That can make for large pieces of artwork. Some of my current pieces are on long rolls – like wallpaper. As I’ve worked, I have been inspired by a 19^th century short story by Charlotte Gilman, the Yellow Wallpaper.”

Credited as an early work of American feminist literature, the Yellow Wallpaper details the descent of a young woman into madness.

The story has been interpreted as a condemnation of the male-dominated medical and social attitudes of the 19^th century, and the fashion for ‘rest cures’ where women were made to take rest and forbidden from self-expression and the use of imagination.

Lorna will be talking more about her inspirations and practice as part of the upcoming Ymyl 2 Edge exhibition – with a session with curator Remy Dean and other artists planned on February 6, where Remy will talk about his mentoring of each of the eight artists involved and each artist will talk about their work.

As a postgraduate student, Lorna has credited Glyndwr with giving her the

space she needed to return to producing artwork. She is currently pursuing a part-time MA in Art Practice at the university – three decades after her undergraduate studies at Glasgow School of Art.

She said: “I have been away from art for thirty years – I took a career break and brought up children. As the children got older, I decided I should go back to being an artist – that’s what I am doing here, and it’s great! I’ve fitted in really well.

“You get provided with studio space, and for me, as a part time student, being provided with that space is such a help.

“You can come and go as you please – it is one of the reasons I’m here!”

The Ymyl 2 Edge exhibition runs every Wednesday to Saturday between 11am and 5pm and every Sunday from noon until 5pm until February 10.

For more information– and to find out how to book a place at the February 6 event – please visit: https://helfagelf.co.uk/events

If you are a graduate who is considering postgraduate study, the next Postgraduate Open Evening at Wrexham Glyndwr University will be held on February 6 – to book your place – see: wgu.ac.uk/PGOpen

For former students considering Postgraduate study, Wrexham Glyndwr University is currently offering a scholarship for alumni with a 20 per cent discount for those with a 2:2 degree or above.

Applicants who meet the Postgraduate Alumni Scholarship criteria and have received a conditional or unconditional offer of a place on a postgraduate programme of study will automatically have the alumni scholarship applied following enrolment.

For more information on the Scholarship, please visit: https://www.glyndwr.ac.uk/en/Studentsupport/Alumni/Alumnibenefits/Postgraduatestudy/