My name is Nia Davies, and I am a practising art student in Swansea College of Art UWTSD, studying fine art. In my practise I explore my experience and interactions with the world through a range of mediums. I mainly work with ink, paint and charcoal to create large scale works that focus on my personal and life experiences. I also work on a smaller scale creating several different prints, focusing on dry point etchings, riso, screen and lino prints depicting flowers and sea views.
In my current practice, my work has taken me down three different paths, that I have categorised as Ceramics, Print and Fire. The first (ceramics) has me exploring the process of throwing. I have been practicing creating thrown pots and plates on the wheel, then taking these through the turning and glazing processes. In particular, I have enjoyed a stage in between the turning and glazing process whereby I put a layer of wax onto a desired area of my plate or pot, then etching into it my design before lastly adding oxide and bisk firing the plate or pot. This leaves a draw image into the object that I can then add other glazes over to produce the final outcome.
The second category, Print, has me exploring flowers, specifically dying or dead ones through the medium of print. I have mainly been focusing on Riso prints to begin with layering the different flowers in the colour orange and black, with the resulting prints displaying interesting levels of detail and texture of the subject matters. I hope to expand this into different mediums of print such as Screen printing and Dry Point Etchings.
Finally, my work in the studios has me exploring the element of fire. I have been looking and what mediums create the best textures to represent fire and how they might combine to best represent the idea that fire isn’t just the end of something, but how it can be the beginnings for something new. I have so far found that the best way to convey an ash like texture is to soak crumpled cartridge paper in Indian ink for a week or so. The time that the paper is left to soak is dependant on the thickness of the paper and it’s durability. I have also found that another way to represent this is through actually burning the paper. This engages the views senses through smell of the burnt paper.
In previous practise I have never let anything limit me when creating (where possible). After completing my A levels, I went on to do a foundation degree in art. This along with the degree I’m currently working through has given me so many opportunities to develop my work. I was also lucky enough to be chosen to paint the Principality window in Cowbridge and enter my work into a few exhibitions held in Cowbridge Community College. I have had work in the 2023 Mini Print Wales and was lucky enough to be chosen as one of three people chosen for the Mission Gallery Digital Residency in the summer of the same year. Growing up I have always been around artists and artwork, and I hope to continue to be surrounded by unique creations in the future.