Stephen Green: Porth Annwn Variations

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and standing stones — there are many, spread widely across North Wales; boundary markers and slate fences — a particular feature of North Welsh quarrying areas, made from quarry waste; and Twentieth Century Ordnance Survey markers. I was fascinated by the structures, shapes and marks that human activity had left on the landscape.Some monuments seem to have served ritual purposes, now long forgotten. Others have become the subjects of myths.<figure id="d049"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*GKFpYrvNkDt7UAhXqcJUKQ.jpeg"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure id="76c2"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*cpXQ3VRe-aFOXIe86CMivg.jpeg"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure id="5197"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*hwmk105LB2raQGOd16kDvg.jpeg"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure id="4f11"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*N56bNM0O9qsiC4M_MAdoCA.jpeg"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>While working on an earlier series of images I became aware of The Mabinogion, a Mediaeval collection of Welsh myths that had previously been handed down verbally. The Mabinogion is still important in Welsh culture, a source for literature, drama, in English as well as Welsh, and visual art.In several stories the protagonists travel to another, parallel, world: Annwn. They gain access via

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a number of portals, there is no single point of entry. Porth is the Welsh word for a gateway or portal. As the original sources of the stories faded into the past the stories themselves became myths. As the original functions of the stones became lost in the past, new myths were attached to them. Some stones are said to mark the portals to Annwn.I became interested in the idea of a portal to another world, and how it might manifest itself. My drawings were becoming increasingly abstract, allusions to illusions, representing my ideas that had arisen through looking at, drawing, and thinking about, landscapes. From this personal material I put together thoughts and notions on the theme of travelling to Annwn — most importantly, how to get there.The portal is important, its surroundings in our world less so. Therefore it is visible as a disruption in the view of a stylised landscape. The form of the disruption is ambiguous, varied and fleeting, being a gap that invites us to consider the possibility that we might be able to leave our world and travel to Annwn...<h2 id="8307">Stephen Green</h2><figure id="554c"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*-NfQuhsBymNDnqh8.jpeg"><figcaption>: Six : Shot : Gallery</figcaption></figure><figure id="0170"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*TtAkuUdW3enzffpN.jpeg"><figcaption>read our publication</figcaption></figure></article></body>

Stephen Green on ‘Porth Annwn Variations’

I work in series of related images. They are sometimes related by theme, sometimes variations on an idea. In this set of images the materials, carbon on paper, are constant. The configuration of the image and the format are the variations.

For a long time my main interest was the landscape — I live in the mountains of North Wales, near some of the world’s biggest slate quarries. They used to supply roofing slate to the world. They are now mostly abandoned. Over the years I became more interested in the way that the local people were influenced by the landscape and vice-versa.

I was aware of the history of slate quarrying when I moved to my present home. An early interest was the shapes left behind after the rock had been extracted. From that, my interest shifted to stone objects that had been placed deliberately in the landscape. This coincided with my growing knowledge that Wales is home to one of the oldest cultures in Europe.

These stones include Megalithic monuments and standing stones — there are many, spread widely across North Wales; boundary markers and slate fences — a particular feature of North Welsh quarrying areas, made from quarry waste; and Twentieth Century Ordnance Survey markers. I was fascinated by the structures, shapes and marks that human activity had left on the landscape.

Some monuments seem to have served ritual purposes, now long forgotten. Others have become the subjects of myths.

While working on an earlier series of images I became aware of The Mabinogion, a Mediaeval collection of Welsh myths that had previously been handed down verbally. The Mabinogion is still important in Welsh culture, a source for literature, drama, in English as well as Welsh, and visual art.

In several stories the protagonists travel to another, parallel, world: Annwn. They gain access via a number of portals, there is no single point of entry. Porth is the Welsh word for a gateway or portal. As the original sources of the stories faded into the past the stories themselves became myths. As the original functions of the stones became lost in the past, new myths were attached to them. Some stones are said to mark the portals to Annwn.

I became interested in the idea of a portal to another world, and how it might manifest itself. My drawings were becoming increasingly abstract, allusions to illusions, representing my ideas that had arisen through looking at, drawing, and thinking about, landscapes. From this personal material I put together thoughts and notions on the theme of travelling to Annwn — most importantly, how to get there.

The portal is important, its surroundings in our world less so. Therefore it is visible as a disruption in the view of a stylised landscape. The form of the disruption is ambiguous, varied and fleeting, being a gap that invites us to consider the possibility that we might be able to leave our world and travel to Annwn...