'Y Rhew Yn Disgyn' - (The Ice Descends)

At the beginning of January 2024, I was fortunate enough to be offered the opportunity to visit Iceland, staying with Photographer and Freelance artist, Lilja @_liljajons on Instagram (miss you!).

Iceland is rich with culture, natural beauty and intriguing folklore which inspired me to explore these aspects in my work. I decided to draw parts of classic Icelandic folklore and integrate it with Welsh stories and culture, as the two have many similarities. ​​

My Welsh heritage plays a very important role in my work, as I believe Wales’ beauty, creativity and fascinating stories are often overlooked. When visiting Iceland, many people were intrigued by Wales and wanted to know more about my home country and its tales.​​

There are many similarities in Nordic and Welsh folktales, most recognisably their magical creatures, such as trolls, fairies and elves. ​​

In December 2023, a volcano erupted in Icelandic town, Grindavik. The town was evacuated and sadly, homes were destroyed. ​

On my flight home, I witnessed this devastatingly beautiful natural disaster, as the volcano erupted again.

Seeing the volcano erupt made me think about how helpless humans, and other creatures, are to natural disasters.​ So, inspired by the eruption and folklore creatures, I created a fictional story about three Icelandic trolls fleeing the volcanic devastation and migrating to Wales.​

Wales is rich in mythological stories, most notably the story of the Welsh Dragon that occupies our flag. In my story, the trolls follow guidance from an ancient prophecy, telling them to find a dragon who will help them find a home. Where in the world do you find dragons? Wales, of course!​

So, the trolls journey overseas to North Wales in hopes of finding the dragon’s lair. With help along the journey from other creatures, they find the dragon; but he is unable to help them.​

He explains that modern day humans are far too greedy. If they saw him, they would most likely sell him for parts or put him in a museum, overlooking his wonderful beauty and powers. Instead, he directs them to find Ysgyryd, the Skirrid Witch.​

I have always been fascinated by the Skirrid mountain and its links to folk tales. When I was little, I was convinced fairies lived there, with a witch living on the little Skirrid, who ruled over the mountain. ​

So, to honour this childhood fantasy, I created the story and brought the Skirrid witch to life, the gatekeeper to a magical realm situated inside of the hill – A safe haven for magical creatures, hidden from the humans.​

For this project I wanted to try a more hands on and physical approach, so I decided to create moveable stop motion dolls and characters made from found materials and scrap resources. I have paired photography, digital drawing and physical prop making to illustrate the story.

Each aspect of the project is made entirely out of recycled materials and repurposed childhood toys.​

I shot individual frames of the trolls moving in stop motion style, in front of a greenscreen. This allowed me to edit the trolls onto scenic photographic and video backdrops that I already had of Iceland and Wales. I used Premiere Pro to do this, However I also used the animation feature on Pro-create to animate the troll's expressions, as well as to draw in extra details and characters to my reference images.​ All imagery used was shot by myself on my trip to Iceland, as well as locally to Wales.

This project has been particularly enjoyable and important to me as I've felt a strong personal connection to it throughout. I've explored and discovered areas that I never considered before, such as Iceland's beauty and intriguing culture, as well as learning more about my own culture and lore.​

I would love to return to making objects, characters and sculptures, possibly on a larger scale, to explore different ways of exhibiting the story!