If you are looking for something edifying to do this weekend, it's your last chance to catch the intriguing solo exhibition 'o' by the Ceredigion-born artist Carwyn Evans.
'o' utilises pockets of space throughout the Wales Millennium Centre and features a series of sculptures, prints and photographs which reflect on Carwyn's relationship with his rural heritage.
The son of a tenant farmer, Carwyn moved to Cardiff 15 years ago to pursue an artistic career.
The work he has created for 'o' explores landscape; man's relationship to nature, displacement and what occurs where nature meets culture.
Ceramic compilation (Tir Sir Gâr). Image courtesy of Carwyn Evans
He told me: "When I was in my second year studying fine art at UWIC, there was a lot changing in agriculture and I felt like I was witnessing the demise of the industry from an arm's length.
"Because my father is a tenant farmer and hasn't inherited his land, I sensed this tension in the fact that what he does is temporary and like many others with a rural upbringing, I am part of the first generation to move away and leave it all behind.
"It felt like I was losing a hold on my working relationship with the land and it was an odd perspective, so I started experimenting with photographs taken inside or looking out from a polytunnel my dad uses to provide temporary shelter to his livestock during the lambing season."
Many of these photographs, which span the last 15 years, feature in the exhibition, but Carwyn has also used sculpture to capture a sense of the shapes and feelings created when other objects have been rested against the polytunnel.
Ca' Shell (framed photographs.) Photo courtesy of Carwyn Evans
A series of sculptures made from sapele wood are on show in the building's foyer.
Carwyn said: "They are quite abstract and give a sense of what I've imagined when I've seen something like a feeder resting against a prop in the polytunnel.
"I wanted to explore the tension between the hardwood sculptures and self-referencing artefacts like a pair of my trainers or tags which are put on cows at auction or springs from machines."
Node (A consciousness in quest of its own truth). Photo courtesy of Carwyn Evans
Penetrating one of the sculptures is a bottle of aftershave which Carwyn says signifies that sense of masking oneself from one's true identity or attempting to obscure our true scent.
After 9pm visitors to the centre can also watch a video display featuring little vignettes taken while looking out from the polytunnel and see a spotlight shone out through the 'o' in the word horizon on the building's external inscription.
Highlight on the first 'o' in horizons on the façade of Wales Millennium Centre. Image courtesy of Carwyn Evans
Finally, Carwyn has created a series of small sculptures which he designed on the computer and then cast in clay with an under-glaze so that as the exhibition continues, they absorb moisture and dust from their surroundings and change appearance.
'o' runs until Monday 26 August at the Wales Millennium Centre.
For more information on Carwyn Evans visit his website carwynevans.com.
