Manon Awst is a Welsh artist who explores sites through sculptures, installations, films and performances. Her main point of departure is the constant flow and transformation of materials across a range of timescales, through which she playfully exposes the overlapping of cultural, ecological and geological narratives.
She studied Architecture at Cambridge University and Artistic Research at the Royal College of Art, London, and lived in Berlin for ten years where she collaborated with German artist Benjamin Walther on a range of art projects. Awst & Walther’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across Europe, including Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Kunstverein Braunschweig, Georg Kolbe Museum, Boros Collection, Cass Sculpture Foundation, Mostyn, Oriel Davies and the National Gallery of Art in Cardiff. They have permanent artworks installed at Nant Gwrtheyrn, North Wales and Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin. In 2019 a catalogue showcasing their work was published by Distanz.
In 2015 Manon received a Creative Wales Award from the Arts Council of Wales and established her studio in Caernarfon, North Wales. As well as developing site-specific art projects and commissions, she is currently Public Spaces Creative Co-ordinator at Pontio, Bangor University and regularly works as a consultant artist on a range of architectural and design projects.
︎ manonawst@hotmail.co.uk
Artist ac ymchwilydd ydy Manon Awst, sy’n archwilio safleoedd drwy greu gosodiadau, ffilmiau a pherfformiadau. Craidd ei gwaith yw’r ffordd y mae defnyddiau’n trawsnewid yn gyson dros wahanol raddfeydd amser, ac felly’n cydblethu naratifau diwylliannol, ecolegol a daearyddol.
Yn wreiddiol o Fôn, astudiodd Bensaerniaeth ym Mhrifysgol Caergrawnt ac Ymchwil Artistig yn y Coleg Celf Brenhinol, Llundain. Enillodd Ysgoloriaeth Bensaerniaeth Eisteddfod Genedlaethol 2004 cyn symud i ddinas Berlin lle bu hi’n cyd-weithio â’r artist Almaenig Benjamin Walther. Cafodd gwaith Awst & Walther ei arddangos yn Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Kunstverein Nürnberg, Kunstverein Braunschweig, Georg Kolbe Museum, Boros Collection, Cass Sculpture Foundation, Oriel Mostyn, Oriel Davies ac mewn amryw o orielau ac amgueddfeydd eraill ledled Ewrop. Mae ganddynt ddarnau celf parhaol i’w gweld yn Nant Gwrtheyrn ac ar sgwâr Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz yn Berlin. Cafodd llyfr sy’n crynhoi eu gwaith ei gyhoeddi yn 2019 gan Distanz.
Yn 2015 derbyniodd Wobr Cymru Greadigol Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru, a sefydlu ei stiwdio yng Nghaernarfon. Yn ogystal â datblygu gosodiadau a chomisiynau celf, mae hi’n barddoni ac yn perfformio yn rheolaidd. Ar hyn o bryd, hi yw Cydlynydd Creadigol Gofodau Cyhoeddus Pontio, Prifysgol Bangor ac mae hi’n ymgymryd â gwaith ymgynghori ar ystod eang o brosiectau dylunio a phensaernïol.