School of Fine Art Sculpture & Environmental Art
Alexandra Smart
My work aims to make sense of my fragmented and oftentimes confusing childhood and family dynamic. I explore the mythology and folktales of my two homes, Scotland and Wales, alongside my own family mythologies and archives as I attempt to understand my own identity and idea of “home”. Motifs from laundry appear throughout my work, representing both the care and connection of my grandmother as well as how approaching such personal topics can make me feel as exposed as a pair of knickers on a washing line. My work often starts out as graphic illustrations and prints before evolving into sculptural works and installation, with my sculptures retaining an illustrative and playful quality. I aim to immerse the viewer into my own daydreams, a world tinged with magic, grief and nostalgia.
Annwfn (I Fought the Law and the Law Won)
Where have I been?
Physically, here. I have walked around, gone to work, kissed my boyfriend, but my mind was elsewhere. At the bottom of that deep green pool, dancing with the spirits in a world like our own but different. I asked the spirts, “who am I?” but they just laughed.
“You are your father’s daughter”, some said.
“You are your mother’s daughter”, said others.
“It doesn’t matter. You are your own person.”, said the rest.
I wasn’t happy with the answers. I asked them, “where am I from?” and they all laughed again.
“You are from the lush green valleys, with castles on the hills”, said some.
“You are from purple mountains, scarred with deep lochs”, said the others.
“It doesn’t matter. You can be from wherever you choose”, said the rest.
“Go deeper”, the spirits whispered. So, I did.
“Annwfn (I Fought the Law and the Law Won)” is an invitation to join me as I descend into the mythical Welsh Otherworld, a place of magic, dancing and feasting, where time moves differently and the living and dead co-exist with the past and present.
