Mandy Lane’s artistic practice is rooted in her identity and personal history as a woman living and working in one of the more deprived areas of Llanelli.
“It is a practice that has had to be knitted into my survival as a single mother with four kids. I am a participant and to some extent an activist in that community. My work has allowed me to access and communicate with a range of social groups through projects that engage artists as active participants. I am particularly interested in the historical and contemporary voices of working-class mothers and children in Wales. I have thought in depth about what it means to be a woman in poverty. This interest being an outgrowth of my own problematic experiences as a child. My work is driven by my experience with the world. Complexities of the domestic and displaced. My practice draws from my understanding of the family, family ritual and relationships within the lone family unit, the mother, mam, mammy and child. My own work could be seen as a collection of stories published in a variety of forms: sculptures, drawings, text and interventions. Although there is much evidence that things are changing and that gender is becoming more fluid and equality is evident, many institutional prejudices and barriers to equality also remain as strong as ever.”
Mandy’s work seeks to challenge this.
Artist Residencies
Elysium This Is Is This Space 2017
Wales Arts Review 2017
Arcade Cardiff 2017-18
Shift Remembering Inanna 2019
Artist Talks
2018 Women’s history archive conference
2017 Glynn Vivian
2017 Elysium
2017 Carmarthen School of Art; Visiting Lecture Program
AWARDS
2017 Research as art Swansea University, collaboration with Professor Kirsty Bohata – Highly commended
2015- 3rd prize Shelf Life exhibition, Manchester
2013- Student of the Year – Carmarthen School of Art
2010- Coleg Sir Gar winner of best painting at end of year exhibition, awarded by an independent Art Society
MEMBERSHIPS
Sculpture Cymru
HEA Fellowship
Iron Maidens II Made in Wales
Symposium/Conference
2018 Women’s history archive conference
2018 Evaluating creativity, Tate, London
2018 2 worlds 1 universe, Arts and education network, mid wales
2017 Creative Practitioner Training, Arts Council Wales, Swansea
2017 Thinking and IAPS joint conference ‘Think for Yourself! Strategies to increase the independence of learners’, London
2017 10 years in iron, Contemporary Art Society, Cardiff
2017 Pride and Prejudice a symposium for the LGBT history month, Swansea university
2016 ArtWorks Cymru Conference, mid Wales