Alix Edwards Glamorgan, United Kingdom
I am a writer and artist from Cardiff, Wales. My work explores women’s voices, mythology, spirituality, memory, and survival. I use art to reclaim identity, empower and give visibility back to people whose stories have been hidden or dismissed. I want people who experience my work to feel inspired, free and open to possibilities.
My name is Alix Edwards. I came to art as a woman survivor, using photography to communicate things I could not safely put into words. My work offers recognition and restitution to people who have been wronged by society by providing a space where their pain can be recognised and their stories can be heard.
In 2019 I was awarded a research and development grant by Arts Council of Wales to research Magdalene Laundries and the harrowing fate of 'fallen women' in Wales, using psychogeography. “WoMen and Men”, my first solo gallery exhibition in Wales, explores 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. Photographs of locks mourn the 2 women murdered per week by violent ex partners in England and Wales. 2024 solo exhibition, 'Myth Women' Cynon Valley museum seeks to inspire women by celebrating the courage and resilience of Welsh female 'Saints' and women from Welsh folklore, many of whom sought freedom from arranged marriages in order to pursue bold life choices.
Recent works include an altar piece made with found objects of the Inagural Welsh Hadau festival, collaboration with a reasearch project at Cambridge University faith and the Divine and work to promote public awareness about how to respond to cardiac arrest in women. My process involves visiting sites of the women I celebrate, mapping the aura with words and photographs, then using my hands to create intuitve paintings that tap into their emotional energy , using my fingertips to apply paint directly onto the canvas.
My current practice looks beyond the suffering and the stories to create a sense of hope and freedom. I am exploring the complex and multifaceted views of women perpetuated by art in the Catholic church, including how we see Mary Magdalene, symbols of hope like angels, the comforting and benevolent energy of the Virgin Mary, how we as women hold space and how these traditions feed into society's expectations around women.
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. Community projects include being a lead artist for Treorchy Time Capsule 2022 using creativity regain a sense of community, being a creative lead for Cynefin: ethnically and culturally diverse Wales 2022-3, a collaboration with Cardiff Metropolitan University using lived experience a young carer for my diabetic father to raise awareness in Wales about Type 2 diabetes.
I am experienced in working with people who may have little or no experience of art or writing (as well as 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! I set up Company of Word literary events in 2018 to encourage people to share their writing, which chieved special mention Saboteur Awards 2020. I was selected by Literature Wales for Representing Wales 2022-2023 and Re-Inventing The Protagonist 2023 programmes. With mentorship from Rhian Edwards I created poetry pamphlet, Before I Changed the Locks, to challenge assumptions about domestic violence and received mentorship from the Firefly Ignite programme 2024 to progress a YA novel. I have an MA from Goldsmith's College in Creative Writing and MA Photography from Central Saint Martin's, London.
Artwork
Myth of Women: Our Lady of Penrhys, Saint Gladwys, Gwenffrewi, 2023-4
Are we not all stories in the end?, Acrylics and mixed media on canvas, 2022
OutSideIn, 2010 ongoing
Praying for Karl, Photography, 2020
Foetus Flowers, Acrylics and glitter on canvas, 2018
Bodyflow, Acrylics and glitter on canvas, 2016
Saints, Sinners and Stories: the Magdalene Laundries in Wales, Photography, 2020
Fallen, acrylics and glitter on canvas, feathers, glitter, 2019, please contact the artist directly to discuss purchasing this work
The Healing Power of Nature, Acrylics and glitter on canvas, 2021
The Show Must Go On, 2021
The Beauty of Feeling Nothing, 2023
Rhiannon, acrylics on canvas, 2023
Ffraid, acrylics on canvas, 2022
on falling in love in the Garden of Eden, acrylics on canvas, 2024
Projects and exhibitions
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Madonna of the Docks07/03/2026 — ongoing Inspired by brutalist architecture, Madonna of The Docks, recaptures memories of walks with my mother in the Carso, Trieste to Monte Grisa, a minimalist modern structure strangely perched on the edge of the cliffs, on the anniversary of her death. |
Art Central, Barry | Details |
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created for Sudden Cardiac Art02/09/2024 — 30/09/2024 These images were created for Sudden Cardiac Art to raise awareness about the importance of using a defibrilator on women who are suffereing cardiac arrest As an artist with a heart condition this is important to me. https://www.instagram.com/reels/DAQR9xcoevX/ reel by curatir, Charlie Kirkman |
Kingshill House, Dursley | Details |
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Look! This is my faith25/06/2024 — ongoing An exhibition which maps how faith affects the creative process in the light of 2 fundamental questions: What is Faith? What is the Divine? |
Garden Room St Edmund's College, Cambridge | Details |
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Myth of Women solo exhibition02/03/2024 — ongoing This IWD exhibition celebrates feminity and draws on the stories of strong and inspiring Welsh women. Here are the details: Exhibition Dates: 2nd -30th March.2024 Opening event Saturday 2nd March 4-6pm Friends faily and babies welcome! IWD2024 workshops Friday 8th Marsh 10am writing, 1pm art, exploring the themes of the... [Read more] |
Cynon Valley Museum, Abedare | Details |
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Paz as part of Hadau inaugural festival 202401/03/2024 — 09/05/2024 1 of 20 selected artists to literally test 'faith' by creating a work using new materials or techniques I used found objects starting with this beautifully shaped frame that I found during lockdown and the technique of watercolour painting which I teach but do not use for my own projects to create an altar piece Paz is about finding peace and... [Read more] |
Urban Crofters, Cardiff | Details |
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Cynefin Ethnically & Culturally Diverse Wales: Tredegarville Garden of Unity01/12/2023 — 31/05/2023 Cynefin, or habitat, is a project designed to help learners understand their identity and sense of belonging by exploring the history, culture, and diverse communities of Wales through creativity. Within Tredegarville Primary school, situated in a multi-cultural inner city area of Cardiff, identity is strongly valued however many families are... [Read more] |
Tredegarville Primary School, Cardiff | Details |
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Global Engagement project with Cardiff Met16/03/2023 — 24/05/2023 A collaboration with Cardiff Metropolitan University and Dr Jane Lewis to raise awareness about warning signs and encourage better self care for people with diabetic neuropathy. This included research, painting, poetry and a public engagement event for Pint of Science 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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Myth Women at AOTH NP20 Art on the Hill Newport 2022 by Alix Edwards23/11/2022 — 03/01/2023 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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Ponty Painters07/06/2022 — 22/10/2022 A collaboration with feminist organisation FilIa as part of their outreach in Wales, to provide a safe and welcoming space for women to explore art and feel empowered, culminating in an exhibition in St David's Hall, Cardiff as part of FiLia 2022 Conference. |
St David's Uniting Church/St David's Hall, Pontypridd /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 — 30/05/2023 Alix Edwards has teamed up with Mercury Theatre, Wales to show selected images from her photographic series Outside-In as part of Bethan Morgan's new play about homelessness, Finding Home directed by Lynn Hunter. |
Depot/Chapter Arts/Torch Tehatre, Cardiff/Cardiff/Milford Haven | 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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