{"id":223839,"date":"2025-06-29T11:14:17","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T11:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/223839\/"},"modified":"2025-06-29T11:14:17","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T11:14:17","slug":"luned-rhys-parri-returns-with-most-potent-work-to-date","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/223839\/","title":{"rendered":"Luned Rhys Parri returns with most potent work to date"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"New works from Luned Rhys Parri<\/p>\n

Stephen Price<\/strong><\/p>\n

Luned Rhys Parri has released a series of new dioramas as part of one of the Wales\u2019 most highly anticipated exhibitions<\/a> this year, including some of her most political and important works to date.<\/p>\n

With work held in collections at the National Library of Wales and CADW, Luned Rhys Parri is fast gaining recognition as one of Wales\u2019 most celebrated and original artists.<\/p>\n

Working from her studio in Groeslon, Gwynedd, her exciting pieces in mixed media and papier-m\u00e2ch\u00e9 which document Wales in unique fashion have found themselves in national collections, and the homes of collectors across Wales and the world.<\/p>\n

Rhys Parri\u2019s celebrated dioramas literally step out of the frame in a riotous burst of joy that feels at once both of the moment and proudly nostalgic.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cDyddiau Ysgol\u201d \u2013 Luned Rhys Parri<\/p>\n

A former pupil of the late Peter Prendergast, Luned\u2019s bold works have consistently sold out at previous shows at Ffin y Parc and Oriel Plas Glyn y Weddw.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Humour<\/strong><\/p>\n

Luned\u2019s characters often inhabit a vanishing Wales, offering a chance to double-take and re-evaluate the overlooked beauty and humour in our elders, our furniture, our fashions, our crumbling buildings.<\/p>\n

The ordinary is uplifted and celebrated in her work, as are the unsung heroes of our communities or the everyday people who show up to protest, demanding \u2018chwarae teg\u2019 for Wales, its people, its resources.<\/p>\n

Chapel scenes, school scenes, and trips to the shops sit aside the same ordinary Welsh people at protests for Tryweryn, for Palestine, for the right to exist. There\u2019s much to dissect in each piece, and so much potency, and it\u2019s unsurprising that Luned chose this boundless, expressive medium.<\/p>\n

Subversive, playful, and undeniably important. This is an artist at the top of their game, and one only Wales could have made.<\/p>\n

Documenting Wales\u2019 today and yesterday has never looked such \u2018hwyl\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cLapio Gwl\u00e2n\u201d \u2013 Luned Rhys Parri<\/p>\n

Luned\u2019s latest works \u2013 a mammoth series of 20 \u2013 are set to be exhibited at Ffin y Parc Gallery, Llandudno<\/a> from 4 July, and Nation.Cymru was lucky enough to get a glimpse of some of her creations in advance.<\/p>\n

We caught up with her for a brief chat about the exhibition and the inspirations behind her most recent work.<\/p>\n

Your work is unmistakably of your hand. What would you say inspires you to create in the way you do?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Old photographs and newspapers, vintage \u201cfinds\u201d of all kinds, and life in Wales both past and present.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cGwerthu Popeth\u201d \u2013 Luned Rhys Parri<\/p>\n

Creating such tangible art which, as you mention, is often based on real people must take a great deal of time, effort and emotion. Because of this, do you find it hard to let some pieces go?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have no space to display my artworks, and don\u2019t have the option of keeping and enjoying them, whereas those who buy a work of mine usually have a particular place at home where they want to display it.<\/p>\n

I feel so honoured and appreciative that such people enjoy my creations.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cCaffi Maes\u201d \u2013 Luned Rhys Parri<\/p>\n

What, if anything, do you hope your art achieves?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hope my work will eventually speak to a wider audience than just the fortunate few of us who are still able to live and work in our country.<\/p>\n

Could this exhibition possibly remind exiles, as well as survivors, of our common history and the past struggles which have made us what we are today?<\/p>\n

Some people might learn a little about our way of life, as it is today and as it was in the recent past.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cProtest y Plant\u201d \u2013 Luned Rhys Parri<\/p>\n

I also hope to make people think about recycling. Not only the recycling of fabrics, scraps of newsprint, etc, but also the recycling of old ideas, fashions and assumptions which might still have interest and validity today.<\/p>\n

Above all, I hope to make viewers of my work smile occasionally.<\/p>\n

These are some of your most potent works, with protest a running theme \u2013 was it was your intent to be more political on a global level perhaps this time around?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am particularly fond of \u2018Merched dros heddwch\u2019 which was created in response to watching Angharad Price give a passionate speech during a gathering for peace in Gaza which was held in Caernarfon.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cMerched Dros Heddwch\u201d \u2013 Luned Rhys Parri<\/p>\n

Your work is so uniquely yours, and you\u2019ve become a leading figure in Welsh arts \u2013 did you expect this with the medium you use, or was it a surprise?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My artwork is changing very gradually because of the nature of the very slow techniques that I use. It is always a struggle to make a living as an artist in Wales and I often have to make work that I hope will sell in a gallery, and occasionally loose confidence in my ideas.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cO\u2019r Morgan Lloyd\u201d \u2013 Luned Rhys Parri<\/p>\n

I am tremendously lucky in the fact that Ffin Y Parc respect my themes and support my more political work and I think that my pieces are becoming more adventurous because of Ffin Y Parcs\u2019 encouragement.<\/p>\n

I started making work from card, paper and other found materials around 30 years ago due to lack of money, although I have found that there is an attraction to art made of rubbish all over the world.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t really feel that I am a leading figure in Welsh arts, although quite a lot of people are collectors of my work, maybe the materials that I use add to the uniqueness of each piece?<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a real joy to so many of these pieces, and a nostalgia too, has anything in particular inspired the subjects chosen?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many of the artworks are based on photographs by Geoff Charles, who took pictures of thousands of Welsh people, including members of my family in the 1960\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cCrefyddol\u201d \u2013 Luned Rhys Parri<\/p>\n

However, after such a long period working in my home studio, whilst looking after my children and then during the pandemic, I have recently been working a lot from photos taken with my phone in Caernarfon, where I was recently \u2018artist in residence\u2019 for short periods in the community hub Porthi Dre and with Carn Cymunedol.<\/p>\n

This has been a worthwhile and enriching time for me as an artist and I have enjoyed meeting a variety of people in the community.<\/p>\n

Your works are in some pretty prestigious places, and you\u2019ve got collectors across the world, how does it feel to see them fly so far, or to gain so many viewers in museums? Again, a form of quiet protest and sowing seeds, raising the profile of Wales, and many of the events that have helped shape us<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of my artworks are in collections in Galicia, The Basque country and Patagonia, and this is a real honour.<\/p>\n

I do feel that it is important for us to make links with other countries who speak minority languages, but it has become more difficult to do this in Europe, because of Brexit.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cStop Robbing Wales\u201d \u2013 Luned Rhys Parri<\/p>\n

This is a show with two other artists I really admire, and three very different female voices, were you pleased when you knew the plan? And have you seen how it all works together?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is great to be showing alongside two renowned female artists in Ffin Y Parc.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cMam a\u2019i Phlentyn\u201d \u2013 Luned Rhys Parri<\/p>\n

The three of us create such different styles of work. I admire both Sarah and Kate very much, and am privileged to be exhibiting with them in this wonderful building in Llandudno.<\/p>\n

Luned\u2019s new works are available to view and purchase online now<\/a>, or you can see them in person at Ffin y Parc<\/a> from 4 July.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Support our Nation today<\/p>\n

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\n independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by
\n the people of Wales.<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New works from Luned Rhys Parri Stephen Price Luned Rhys Parri has released a series of new dioramas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5010],"tags":[748,4884,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-223839","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wales","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114766366404098529","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}