Alix Edwards Glamorgan, United Kingdom
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I work with women, acrylics, stories, photographs and words because I want to free myself, empower and energize women and celebrate feminine energy. By doing so I give the power back to women. I want the people who experience my work to feel empowered, inspired, free and open to possibilities.

My name is Alix Edwards. I am a multiplatform artist, writer and facilitator based in Cardiff, Wales. I seek to empower others to share their stories through their own creativity. I use fiction, spoken word, painting and photography to tell untold stories about motherhood, loss, domestic violence and resilience. My work gives a voice primarily to women and children who society has silenced or ignored.

I am experienced in working with people who may have little or no experience of art or writing (as well as some very 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!

In 2019 I was awarded a research and development grant by Arts Council of Wales to research the fate of 'fallen women' in terms of story and psycho-geography, having produced a body of paintings called Foetus Flowers for MadeInRoath 2018 which celebrate the 'shameful' births of babies in Magdalene Laundries.

I was part of the 2022-2023 cohort of writers for Representing Wales funded by Literature Wales where I produced a poetry pamphlet, Changing The Locks, which challenges assumptions about domestic violence with mentorship from poet/editor Rhian Edwards, was part of Literature Wales' Re-Inventing The Protagonist 2023 programme and am currently receiving mentorship under the Firefly Ignite programme to progress a YA novel.

I set up Company of Word literary events in 2018 to encourage people to share their writing whilst celebrating Wale's tradition of poetry. It achieved special mention in the Saboteur Awards 2020. Drawing on my lived experience as a survivor of domestic abuse, I am creating a body of work that acknowledges and honour the strength and resilience of women from local myths.

My work focuses on giving a voice to to women and children who were not listened to, tucked away by society or ignored . “WoMen and Men”, my first solo exhibition at a dedicated gallery space in Wales, explored different 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. Timed, candle-lit huge giant paintings, ‘Bodyflows’, re-invigorate MRI scans, putting the humanity back in the clinical evidence. Instagram series 104 locks highlights that (even in 2022) on average 2 women are murdered per week in England and Wales by their partners. The Show Must Go On and Praying for Karl exhibited at Waterfront Newport in 2021 and 2020 celebrate resilience during traumatic times. Fallen, exhibited at g39 in Cardiff explores the etymology of the verb to fall with regard to women with a lifesize woman falling from heaven like a space plunging into the sea and the The Other Side of Sex and On Becoming A Real Woman, exhibited 2019 at Sexology in Los Angeles challenge society’s double standards when it comes to women and sex.

My current practice looks beyond the suffering and the stories to create a sense of hope and freedom. 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. Recent projects include being a lead artist for Treorchy Time Capsule 2022 which used creativity to explore and share stories to regain a sense of community which had been eroded by lock-down and flooding, being a creative lead for Cynefin: ethnically and culturally diverse Wales 2022-3, a collaboration with Cardiff Met using my lived experience as a carer to raise awareness in Wales around silent killer Type 2 diabetes. I have created a series of large scale 'portraits' for IDW2024 exhibited at Cynon Valley Museum throughout March 2024 about Welsh women who form part of the fabric of Welsh culture yet receive scant mention in historybooks. Recent works include a piece made with found objects of the Inqugural Welsh Hadau festival and a collaboration with a reasearch project at Cambridge University about artistic practice, faith and the Divine.

Artwork

Ffraid, acrylics on canvas, 2022

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Rhiannon, acrylics on canvas, 2023

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The Beauty of Feeling Nothing, 2023

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The Show Must Go On, 2021

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The Healing Power of Nature, Acrylics and glitter on canvas, 2021

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Fallen, acrylics and glitter on canvas, feathers, glitter, 2019, please contact the artist directly to discuss purchasing this work

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Saints, Sinners and Stories: the Magdalene Laundries in Wales, Photography, 2020

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Bodyflow, Acrylics and glitter on canvas, 2016

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Foetus Flowers, Acrylics and glitter on canvas, 2018

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Praying for Karl, Photography, 2020

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OutSideIn, 2010 ongoing

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Are we not all stories in the end?, Acrylics and mixed media on canvas, 2022

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Projects and exhibitions

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Look! This is my faith

25/06/2024 — 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

Myth of Women solo exhibition

02/03/2024 — 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...

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Cynon Valley Museum, Abedare Details

Paz as part of Hadau inaugural festival 2024

01/03/2024 — 09/05/2024

Urban Crofters, Cardiff Details

Paz as part of Hadau inaugural festival 2024

01/03/2024 — 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...

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Urban Crofters, Cardiff Details

Cynefin Ethnically & Culturally Diverse Wales: Tredegarville Garden of Unity

01/12/2023 — 31/05/2023

Tredegarville Primary School, Cardiff Details

Global Engagement project with Cardiff Met

16/03/2023 — 24/05/2023

Little Man Coffee Company, Cardiff Details

Women and The Valleys Exhibition

23/02/2023 — 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

Stories we'd rather forget

06/02/2023 — 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...

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Treorchy Library, Treorchy, Wales Details

Creative Lead Cynefin ethnically and culturally diverse Wales

01/12/2022 — 01/04/2023

Tredegarville CIW Primary, Cardiff Details

Myth Women at AOTH NP20 Art on the Hill Newport 2022 by Alix Edwards

23/11/2022 — ongoing

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....

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Diverse Vinyl, Newport, Newport, Wales Details

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...

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Filia Conference St David's Hall, Cardiff Details

The Healing Power of Nature Images - Roath Writer's 10th Anniversary Anthology launch

28/09/2022 — 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

Lead artist in Treorchy Time Capsule

12/04/2022 — 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...

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High Street Treorchy, Wales, Treorchy, Wales Details

Changing The Locks

01/04/2022 — 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

The Show Must Go On art by Alix Edwards

25/11/2021 — 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...

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Riverfront Theatre, Newport Details

OutSide In as part of Finding Home

11/10/2021 — 12/10/2021

Alix Edwards has teamed up with Mercury Theatre, Wales to show selected images from her photographic series OutSide as part of Bethan Morgan's new play about homelessness, Finding Home directed by Lynn Hunter.

Depot, Cardiff Details

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...

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Artcore Gallery, Derby Details

Keepsakes

27/09/2019 — 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

WoMen and Men solo exhibition

01/09/2019 — 29/09/2019

Cwtsh Gallery, Newport Details

Sexposed

01/08/2019 — 18/09/2019

The work produced for this group exhibition challenges stereotypes about sexuality and women.

LA Up Gallery, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Details

Saints, Sinners and Stories: the Magdalene Laundries in Wales

19/07/2019 — 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...

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Cardiff Details

Fallen

17/07/2019 — 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...

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g39, Cardiff Details

Foetus Flowers

01/06/2019

RWCMD Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Cardiff Details

War Bride

24/05/2019 — 09/07/2019

FaB2, Bath Details

104 Locks in 2018

01/01/2018 — 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...

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