Geraint Ross Evans, Artist in residence
Artist in residence
Geraint Ross Evans was artist in residence at the hospital during the spring and summer of 2021. He had unparalleled access to clinical and non-clinical departments, making observational drawings during a series of visits. Responding to the day-to-day scenes he saw around the building, these drawings attempt to connect with, capture and communicate the complex experience of being at the hospital.
Geraint collated these drawings at his studio, and created more drawings from memory that depict fleeting, remembered moments He then created a large-scale hand drawn mural that knits together these fragmented observations into a holistic portrait of the hospital over the course of one day.
Geriant’s 2.5 x 6m mural brings together a series of unfolding panoramic spaces that run horizontally in tiers, echoing the floors of the hospital. The spaces occasionally cross vertically, as information, objects and people pass between departments. For example, a patient brought in by ambulance passes between floors, appearing to float through departments in the careful hands of hospital staff.
Roedd Geraint Ross Evans yn artist preswyl yn yr ysbyty yn ystod gwanwyn a haf 2021. Roedd ganddo fynediad digyffelyb at adrannau clinigol ac anghlinigol, gan wneud darluniau arsylwadol yn ystod cyfres o ymweliadau. Gan ymateb i'r golygfeydd o welodd o amgylch yr adeilad o ddydd i ddydd, mae'r darluniau hyn yn ceisio cysylltu â'r profiad cymhleth o fod yn yr ysbyty, ynghyd â chrynhoi a chyfleu'r profiad hwnnw.
Rhoddodd Geraint y darluniau hyn at ei gilydd yn ei stiwdio, a chreu mwy o luniau o'r cof sy'n darlunio ennyd fach o'r cof. Yna creodd furlun ar raddfa fawr wedi'i wneud â llaw sy'n cydblethu'r arsylwadau tameidiog hyn yn bortread cyfannol o ddiwrnod yn y ysbyty.
Mae murlun 2.5 x 6m Geriant yn dwyn ynghyd gyfres o fannau panoramig sy'n rhedeg yn llorweddol mewn haenau, gan adleisio lloriau'r ysbyty. Mae'r lleoedd weithiau'n croesi'n fertigol, wrth i wybodaeth, gwrthrychau a phobl basio rhwng adrannau. Er enghraifft, mae claf sy'n cyrraedd mewn mewn ambiwlans yn cael ei symud rhwng lloriau, gan ymddangos fel pe bai'n nofio drwy adrannau yn nwylo gofalus staff yr ysbyty.
“I hope to have created something like a visual second-person novel, where patients and staff can journey through the picture in their own way, embodying and interpreting the stories in reference to their own experiences.
“Individuals are seen working together within the collective machine of the hospital, for the care of the patients who are often at important and difficult moments in their lives. Many of these figures are depicted as carrying their emotions with them as I did not want to shy away from the anxieties, joys and pains that come with life-changing medical treatment. I hope the work emphasises the heroic work undertaken by hospital staff, embodied in both the small stories unfolding day-to-day as well as within the collective benefit of the NHS to society as a whole.” – Geraint Ross Evans
“Rwy’n gobeithio fy mod wedi creu rhywbeth fel nofel weledol yn yr ail berson, lle y gall cleifion a staff deithio drwy’r llun yn eu ffordd eu hunain, gan ymgorffori a dehongli’r straeon gan gyfeirio at eu profiadau eu hunain.
“Gwelir unigolion yn gweithio gyda’i gilydd o fewn peiriant yr ysbyty, i ofalu am y cleifion sydd yn aml ar gyfnodau pwysig ac anodd yn eu bywydau. Mae llawer o'r ffigurau hyn wedi'u darlunio fel rhai sy'n cario eu hemosiynau gyda nhw gan nad oeddwn i eisiau osgoi cyfeirio at y pryderon, y llawenydd a'r poenau sy'n dod law yn llaw â thriniaeth feddygol sy'n newid bywyd. Rwy'n gobeithio bod y gwaith yn pwysleisio'r gwaith arwrol a wneir gan staff ysbytai, sy'n cael ei ymgorffori yn y straeon bach a welir o ddydd i ddydd yn ogystal ag o fewn budd y GIG i'r gymdeithas gyfan.” - Geraint Ross Evans
About the artist | Yr artist
Geraint Ross Evans is an artist based in Cardiff who works and teaches between Cardiff and London. He is a figurative artist who uses picture-making as a playground to explore complex contemporary issues through the lens of people and place. He studied at Swansea Metropolitan University, and also at the Royal Drawing School, on its postgraduate programme the Drawing Year.
Artist o Gaerdydd yw Geraint Ross Evans ac mae’n rhannu gweithio fel athro gan rannu ei amser rhwng Caerdydd a Llundain. Mae’n artist ffigurol sy’n defnyddio darluniau fel cyfle i ymchwilio i faterion cyfoes cymhleth drwy lens pobl a lleoedd. Astudiaeth ym Mhrifysgol Fetropolitan Abertawe yn ogystal â’r Ysgol Ddarlunio Frenhinol, ar y rhaglen i ôl-raddedigion, sef Blwyddyn Ddarlunio.