A new solo exhibition of work from Catrin Williams will open this May, celebrating her distinctive take on life, landscape and identity in Wales.
Celebration will show at Cardiff’s Celf Gallery from 2 to 31 May 2026, featuring Catrin’s characteristic colourful oil paintings as well as drawings and collage.
Catrin Williams was raised near Bala in north Wales, and has lived in Pwllheli since 1996, with ‘Welshness’ a reoccurring theme in her work.
Early works included paintings of the Berwyn mountains, while she regularly draws inspiration from the coastline and sea near her home.
Explorations of representations of Wales have developed over the years, most recently with studies into tourist imagery.
Exhibiting since the late 1980s, Catrin also works with school children across Wales through her creative workshops.
Celebration is a vibrant extension of her practice, honouring the vibrant landscapes, people, florals and things that inspire her as joyful symbols.
In an essay to accompany the exhibition by Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan, the academic writes: “There is a wonderful sense of freedom in the way she conveys her subject matter, whether a landscape or an arrangement of familiar objects, and that freedom permeates the work whatever the medium…
“This exhibition illustrates the range and variety of her recent work. What strikes us immediately on looking at the landscapes is that it is towns and villages which attract the artist’s attention, places made and lived in by people, even if they are unseen.
“These are not views of an empty countryside in the classic ‘picturesque’ manner, far from it, they celebrate an environment made and used by people…
“Catrin Williams’s work resists conventional categories as she focuses on her own unique artistic vision. Central to that vision is her Welsh identity and the celebration of life in all its dimensions, and this exhibition displays the same energy, joie de vivre and singing colours that have characterised her work from the beginning.”
Hawlfraint © Catrin Williams
Cynllun - Almon