Catrin Menai
ALAW TU HWNT I NI²
At the core of Catrin Menai’s practice is a search for “a language that falls more freely, like rocks or dust,” as she wrote, in Welsh, in an email a few weeks ago. In ‘ALAW TU HWNT I NI²’ (which continues the inquiries of Catrin’s contribution to TROI, TROSI, a collective research project on which we collaborated last year) she layers poetic fragments, correspondences and archival materials to perform a series of call-and-responses: between languages, eras and geographies, and between Taloi Havini’s Artes Mundi 10 exhibition at Mostyn and Catrin’s own ongoing project of excavating familial memory and ‘knowledge-holding’ across generations.
Yn ei gwaith aml-gyfrwng, mae Catrin Menai yn dyheu am iaith sy’n “disgyn yn fwy rhydd, fel creigiau neu llwch,” fel sgwennodd mewn e-bost rai wythnosau ‘nol. Yn ‘ALAW TU HWNT I NI²,’ dilyniant o fath i ddarn crëodd ar gyfer prosiect TROI, TROSI llynedd, mae’n pentyrru deilchion dyfynnol, sgwennu barddonol, gohebiaeth a deunyddiau archifol i adeiladu ymdeimlad o alw ac ymateb: rhwng ieithoedd, cyfnodau a llefydd, ac hefyd rhwng gwaith Taloi Havini ar gyfer Artes Mundi 10 yn Mostyn a’i phrosiect parhaol o gloddio i gof teuluol a’r moddau caiff gwybodaeth ei gario o genhedlaeth i genhedlaeth.
Catrin Menai is an artist based between Bethesda (north Wales) and Glasgow. She creates narrative-driven works using the communicative potential of everyday objects, gestures, and place. Through film, writing and found objects, and grounded as much in chance encounter as in close study, she explores ways of thinking with our world, considering care and love as a material space for knowledge-making. Her work has been exhibited at Mostyn and The Turner House, and published with Poetry Wales. She completed an MFA at the Glasgow School of Art in 2021. www.catrinmenai.co.uk
Artist yw Catrin Menai sy’n byw rhwng Bethesda a Glasgow. Mae ei gwaith yn edrych at botensial gwrthrychau bob-dydd, ystumiau a llefydd i gyfathrebu naratif. Gan ddefnyddio ffilm, sgwennu a chanfod, ac wedi’i gwreiddio mewn cyfarfyddiadau damweiniol cyn gymaint ag astudiaeth fanwl, mae’n archwilio strategaethau o feddwl gyda’n byd, ac o ystyried gofal a chariad fel gofod materol i greu gwybod/aeth. Mae ei gwaith wedi ei arddangos yn ddiweddar yn Mostyn a Thy Turner, ac fe gwblhaodd MFA yn y Glasgow School of Art yn 2021. www.catrinmenai.co.uk