Born in 1970, Iwan completed his MA in Painting at Chelsea School or Art, London in 1993 before returning to his home in North Wales where he now lectures at Coleg Menai in Bangor.  From an early age the North Wales coastline has played an important part in his life. However, he is keen to point out that his paintings are not topographical illustrations of specific places, but only references to his local landscape.  Iwan is now regarded as one of Wales’ leading young landscape painters.

He says of his work:

The landscapes that occupy my paintings refer as much to a state of mind as they do to particular places, namely the North West corner of Anglesey where I was born and raised. My childhood landscape is still a haunting and mysterious place, vast and silent low-land of wind-swept places which have a sonic resonance in my imagination.

The practice of painting for me is a process of uncovering, and I attempt to use metaphors of sorts to construct and present the work. The erect vertical structures in the paintings have a figurative metaphor referring to human presences and manmade structures. The remains of human activity on the land is visible in suggested elements such as embankments, sluice gates, fence-poles and structures  which no longer have a function but are left as monuments in the landscape. These are deep rooted preoccupations as they mark the passage of time and passing of land from one generation to another.

I am interested in colour that produces a sensation of depth and space in the landscape such as the feeling of air, atmosphere and time of day, and that colour created through the accumulation of several transparent layers. The paintings are concerned with my personal challenge of finding a visual equivalent of my sensations and inspirations, which I am attempting to translate in a visceral and visionary way.

Solo Exhibitions

2007                 Martin Tinney Gallery, Cardiff

2004                 A55 Oriel Ynys Mon, LLangefni
2004                 Native Land Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno

2003                 Theatre Clwyd, Mold

2002                 Gateway Arts Centre, Shrewsbury

2000                 Wrexham Arts Centre

Selected Group Exhibitions

2005                 Martin Tinney Gallery, with Dick Chappell and Dewi Tudur

2003-07 Martin Tinney Gallery

2000                 Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno (artist in residence)

2000                 Centre for Visual Arts, Cardiff

1999                 Wales Drawing Biennial, Touring show

1999                 Eistddfod, Coleg Menai

1998                 Six Welsh Artists, Wrexham Arts Centre & Altena (Germany)

1998                 Wales Drawing Biennial

1997                 Oriel Bangor

Collections and Awards

2008                 University of Glamorgan

2007                 Contemporary Arts Society for Wales Collection

2003                 Selected to be a member of the Royal Cambrian Academy, Conwy

1999                 Anglesey County Council Collection

1999                 2^nd prize, Gold Medal - Fine Art, Eisteddfod Genedlaethol, Anglesey

Wedi’i eni yn 1970, cwblhaodd Iwan gwrs MA Peintio yn Ysgol Gelf Chelsea, Llundain yn 1993 cyn dychwelyd i’w gartref yng Ngogledd Cymru lle y mae bellach yn darlithio yng Ngholeg Menai, Bangor. Ers yn ifanc mae arfordir Gogledd Cymru wedi chwarae rhan allweddol yn ei fywyd. Nid yw ei baentiadau yn ddarluniau topograffig o lefydd penodol, ond yn hytrach yn gyfeiriadau cyffredinol at y tirwedd o’i amgylch. Mae Iwan yn cael ei ystyried fel un o artistiaid tirluniau ifanc mwyaf blaengar Cymru.

Mae’r tirluniau rydw i’n eu peintio yn cyfeirio at gyflwr meddwl gymaint ag y gwnant at lefydd penodol, sef Gogledd Orllewin Ynys Mon lle y cefais fy ngeni a’m magu. Mae tirlun fy mhlentyndod yn parhau i fod yn ardal hudolus, eang a tawel, mannau wedi’u curo gan yr elfennau a’r rhain yn aros yn fy nychymyg.

Mae’r weithred o beintio yn broses o ddatguddio, a defnyddiaf drosiadau i greu a chyfansoddi’r gwaith. Mae’r adeiladwaith yn drosiad sy’n cyfeirio at fodolaeth dyn, gyda gwaith llaw dyn ar y tir yn amlwg yn yr awgrym o bolion ffens, gatiau llifddor, argloddiau ac adeiladau, bellach yn wag ond yn gadael marc dyn ar y tirlun. Noda’r elfennau yma dreuliad amser a defnydd y tir o genhedlaeth i genhedlaeth.

Mae gen i ddiddordeb mewn lliw sy’n creu’r synwyr o ofod a dyfnder yn y tirlun, er enghraifft o aer, amser a atmosffer, gyda’r lliw yn cael ei greu trwy bentyrru nifer o haenau tryloyw. Mae’r peintiadau yn ymwneud gyda’m her bersonol o ffeindio iaith gweledol sy’n cyfateb i’m  ysbrydoliaeth.