O dir trugarog | eurosrowlands

Ysbrydolwyd y gyfres ‘O dir trugarog’ gan y ffilm ‘For Sama’, sy’n dogfennu profiad teulu yn Aleppo, a’r erchylldra a’r dioddefaint sydd wedi cael ei wynebu yn Syria dros y blynyddoedd diwethaf. Cefais fy effeithio’n fawr wrth wylio’r dinistr ar y newyddion ar y pryd, ond teimlo nad oedd gennyf y gallu i gyfleu dioddefaint o’r fath raddfa, ond wrth wylio’r profiadau ar lefel mor ddynol rhai blynyddoedd yn ddiweddarach yn y ffilm, teimlais yr angen i greu cyfres a oedd yn deirnged i’r ddinas ac i fy ymateb emosiynol. Mae’r gyfres o chwech canfas yn ddarnau cyfrwng cymysg sy’n defnyddio delweddau o bapurau newydd, nid yn uniongyrchol o Aleppo, ond yn hytrach sy’n cyfleu mynegiant a oedd yn crisialu fy ymateb, ynghyd ac olion paent ar dap masgio, darnau o lyfrau, a paent olew. Daw’r teitl o’r gerdd ‘Lament for Syria’ gan Amineh Abou Kerech, ac fel y gerdd, a ‘For Sama’, roeddwn am greu darnau sy’n troedio ar y ffin bregus rhwng gobaith a thrasiedi yng ngwyneb y fath ddinistr anfaddeuol.

The series ‘O dir trugarog’ was inspired by the film ‘For Sama’ which documents the experiences of a family in Aleppo, and the horror and suffering faced by the Syrian people in recent years. I was painfully moved when watching the destruction on the news at the time, but felt unable to articulate in visual terms such depth of suffering, but, later, watching the events on such a human level, I felt compelled to attempt a series which was both a tribute to the city and to my emotional response. The series of six canvases are mixed media pieces which use found images from newspapers, not necessarily from Syria, which I felt conveyed the strength of expression needed for the works, along with remnants of paint on strips of masking tape, the textures of books and other physical objects, and oil paint. The title is a Welsh translation of a line from the poem ‘Lament for Syria’ by Amineh Abou Kerech, and like this poem, and ‘For Sama’, I wanted to create work which exists on the fragile tightrope between hope and tragedy in the face of such unjustifiable suffering.