Alix Edwards Glamorgan, United Kingdom
Alix Edwards is a multi-platform artist who uses fiction, spoken word, painting and photography to tell untold stories about motherhood, loss, domestic violence and resilience. Her work gives a voice primarily to women and children who society has silenced or ignored.
My name is Alix Edwards. I am a multiplatform artist, writer and facilitator based in Cardiff, Wales. My mission is to tell stories that would otherwise remain untold through my art using painting, photography and spoken word and to empower others to share their stories through their own creativity.
I am experienced in working with people who may have little or no experience of art or writing (as well as some very established artists/writers) from a variety of backgrounds. I put people in touch with that creative ‘artist’s child’ part of themselves that gets lost in the struggles, work and disappointments of everyday life. Many people that I have helped have been made to feel that they can’t ‘do’ art or write from a very early age and I am passionate about proving to people that they can!
In 2019 I was awarded a research and development grant by Arts Council of Wales to research the fate of 'fallen women' in terms of story and psycho-geography, having produced a body of paintings called Foetus Flowers for MadeInRoath 2018 which celebrate the 'shameful' births of babies in Magdalene Laundries.
I was part of the 2022-2023 cohort of writers for Representing Wales funded by Literature Wales where I produced a poetry pamphlet, Changing The Locks, which challenges assumptions about domestic violence with mentorship from poet/editor Rhian Edwards.
I like to work intuitively and often paint with my eyes closed, or in the dark so that I can feel the cold, fresh paint on my fingertips, and rhythmically apply it to the canvas. This makes me more attuned to my surroundings: I hear the laughter of a child, a motorcycle driving past, seagulls shrieking in a stream of conscious way as I try to imagine the thoughts of the people I am honouring. I set up Company of Word literary events in 2018 to encourage people to share their writing whilst celebrating Wale's tradition of poetry. It achieved special mention in the Saboteur Awards 2020. Drawing on my lived experience as a survivor of domestic abuse, I am creating a body of work that acknowledges and honour the strength and resilience of women from local myths.
My previous work focuses on giving a voice to to women and children who were not listened to, tucked away by society or ignored . “WoMen and Men”, my first solo exhibition at a dedicated gallery space in Wales, explored different aspects of womanhood in the 20th and 21st Century, ranging from being a War Bride at the end of World War II to surviving domestic violence in London.
Giant child-like canvases exhibited in The Laundry, Hackney, remember 29 children murdered during court ordered contact visits. Timed, candle-lit huge giant paintings, ‘Bodyflows’, re-invigorate MRI scans, putting the humanity back in the clinical evidence. Instagram series 104 locks highlights that (even in 2022) on average 2 women are murdered per week in England and Wales by their partners. The Show Must Go On and Praying for Karl exhibited at Waterfront Newport in 2021 and 2020 celebrate resilience during traumatic times. Fallen, exhibited at g39 in Cardiff explores the etymology of the verb to fall with regard to women with a lifesize woman falling from heaven like a space plunging into the sea and the The Other Side of Sex and On Becoming A Real Woman, exhibited 2019 at Sexology in Los Angeles challenge society’s double standards when it comes to women and sex.
My current practice looks beyond the suffering and the stories to create a sense of hope and freedom. Empowering others through workshops which focus on wellbeing and inner strength is an integral part of my practice. Through my own work I invite others to seek out small moments of beauty and to find calmness and solace in the safe and magical space that creativity offers in our most difficult moments.
Artwork
The Beauty of Feeling Nothing, 2023
The Show Must Go On, 2021
The Healing Power of Nature, Acrylics and glitter on canvas, 2021
Fallen, acrylics and glitter on canvas, feathers, glitter, 2019, please contact the artist directly to discuss purchasing this work
Saints, Sinners and Stories: the Magdalene Laundries in Wales, Photography, 2020
Bodyflow, Acrylics and glitter on canvas, 2016
Foetus Flowers, Acrylics and glitter on canvas, 2018
Praying for Karl, Photography, 2020
OutSideIn, 2010 ongoing
Are we not all stories in the end?, Acrylics and mixed media on canvas, 2022
Projects and exhibitions
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Cynefin Ethnically & Culturally Diverse Wales: Tredegarville Garden of Unity01/12/2023 — 31/05/2023 |
Tredegarville Primary School, Cardiff | Details |
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Global Engagement project with Cardiff Met16/03/2023 — 24/05/2023 |
Little Man Coffee Company, Cardiff | Details |
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Women and The Valleys Exhibition23/02/2023 — 21/03/2023 This IWD exhibition is about #EmbraceEquity and includes 2 pieces from myongoing series about powerful women: welsh Goddess Rhiannon and the powerful woman inside of me |
Cynon Valley Museum, Aberdare | Details |
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Stories we'd rather forget06/02/2023 — ongoing This exhibition features 2 stories: Saints, Sinners and Stories explores what it was like to be a woman who gave birth outside of the societal norm of wedlock, both in Ireland and here in Wales. War Bride: the story of a woman who married a British soldier at the end of World War II and life in Trieste, Italy against a backdrop of the... [Read more] |
Treorchy Library, Treorchy, Wales | Details |
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Creative Lead Cynefin ethnically and culturally diverse Wales01/12/2022 — 01/04/2023 |
Tredegarville CIW Primary, Cardiff | Details |
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Myth Women at AOTH NP20 Art on the Hill Newport 2022 by Alix Edwards23/11/2022 — ongoing This work is inspired by strong women who have survived in myths and combines female power with the elements. There are theories that women were popular in myths of ancient times because of the mystery that surrounded childbirth, conception and fertility. In modern times science has answered many questions about biology, physics and nature.... [Read more] |
Diverse Vinyl, Newport, Newport, Wales | Details |
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Are we not all stories in the end?20/10/2022 — 24/10/2022 The question ‘Are we not all stories in the end?’ is juxtaposed with one of the oldest metaphors or stories: the Tree of Life personified as Mother Earth set against a red sky. The centuries old archetype of the Tree Of Life appears in many religious, philosophical and mythological traditions, including in the Bible and early cultures... [Read more] |
Filia Conference St David's Hall, Cardiff | Details |
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The Healing Power of Nature Images - Roath Writer's 10th Anniversary Anthology launch28/09/2022 — 18/11/2022 Launch event 5th October 2022 These images document walks I have been on in order to heal from trauma. |
print, Cardiff | Details |
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Lead artist in Treorchy Time Capsule12/04/2022 — 20/08/2022 Treorchy Time Capsule was created in collaboration with Parc and Dare Theatre and Treorchy Library. It encouraged the community to visit the High Street and engage in community activities following the isolation of lockdown as well as to raised morale in times which have been difficult for local businesses and residents with the impact of Covid... [Read more] |
High Street Treorchy, Wales, Treorchy, Wales | Details |
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Changing The Locks01/04/2022 — ongoing A poetry pamphlet that explores issues around domestic violence You can hear Alix reading poems from this pamphlet at @Storyville Books, Pontypridd (Voices On The Bridge) on October 26th from 6.30pm |
Cardiff | Details |
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The Show Must Go On art by Alix Edwards25/11/2021 — ongoing This intuitively painted work explores how we continue to cling to a sense of normality when what is around us is falling apart “Using my hands rids the barrier of the brush. I like to paint with my eyes closed, or in the dark so that I can feel the cold, fresh paint on my fingertips, and rhythmically apply it to the canvas. I am also... [Read more] |
Riverfront Theatre, Newport | Details |
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OutSide In as part of Finding Home11/10/2021 — 12/10/2021 Alix Edwards has teamed up with Mercury Theatre, Wales to show selected images from her photographic series OutSide as part of Bethan Morgan's new play about homelessness, Finding Home directed by Lynn Hunter. |
Depot, Cardiff | Details |
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Untitled (from Saints, Sinners and Stories: the Magdalene Laundries in Wales)07/03/2020 — 28/03/2020 Part of her archival and psycho-geographic site-based research for Saints, Sinners and Stories. The Magdalene Laundries in Wales (generously sponsored by Arts Council of Wales) these two paintings are an intuitive psycho-geographic response to visiting mother and baby homes in Wrexham, North Wales. They were exhibited as part of Artcore... [Read more] |
Artcore Gallery, Derby | Details |
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Keepsakes27/09/2019 — 02/10/2019 Part of the Women's Arts Association exhibition Llanover Hall 2019, Saints Sinners and Stories Cardiff Women's Centre 2019 Keepsakes is a reflection on the Magdalene Laundries: the life of the mother, her child taken away after birth in prison-like conditions of a Magdalene Laundries versus the wealth of the couple who would be adopting the child. |
Llanover House Arts Centre, Cardiff | Details |
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WoMen and Men solo exhibition01/09/2019 — 29/09/2019 |
Cwtsh Gallery, Newport | Details |
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Sexposed01/08/2019 — 18/09/2019 The work produced for this group exhibition challenges stereotypes about sexuality and women. |
LA Up Gallery, Los Angeles, Los Angeles | Details |
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Saints, Sinners and Stories: the Magdalene Laundries in Wales19/07/2019 — 31/05/2021 Saints, Sinners and Stories: The Magdalene Laundries in Wales generously funded by the Arts Council of Wales explored what happened to 'fallen' women in Wales in terms of psychogeography. It involved archival research, visiting sites of former 'laundries' and discussion with psycho-geographers, photographers and storytellers including Peter... [Read more] |
Cardiff | Details |
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Fallen17/07/2019 — 20/07/2019 Lost babies, broken hearts, stained sheets, severed wings Passed judgements, spoilt apples, tarnished names, washed hands… This altar piece entitled ‘Fallen’ celebrates the etymology of the verb to ‘fall’ with regards to women and explores how everyday words frame our perceptions. Fallen’s multiple meanings include to pass... [Read more] |
g39, Cardiff | Details |
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Foetus Flowers01/06/2019 |
RWCMD Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Cardiff | Details |
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War Bride24/05/2019 — 09/07/2019 |
FaB2, Bath | Details |
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104 Locks in 201801/01/2018 — 31/12/2018 In 2018 Alix Edwards posted 104 lock images on her Instagram feed, 2 locks every week each Friday, to remind people of the 104 women that are killed each year in England and Wales by a partner or former partner. "As a victim of DV and a justice system that still overlooks it, locks have always been a strong image for me and feature strongly... [Read more] |
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