Guto Morgan

Detail of painting, titled: 'Frayed Roots'. Oil on board.

Guto Morgan (b. 1991, Aberystwyth) is a Welsh artist living and working in London. He obtained a First-Class Honours BA in Painting and Printmaking from the Glasgow School of Art in 2019. Morgan has exhibited widely and was selected for the 2020 RSA New Contemporaries at the Royal Scottish Academy and Young Welsh Artists at MOMA Machynlleth (2020). He later had a residency at Aberystwyth Arts Centre’s Heatherwick studio (2021). Morgan’s work is held in both private and public collections, including The National Library of Wales’ picture collection.

Through painting I conduct archaeological digs into recollections, experiences and lived spaces. Here I find openings to reflect on placeness, cynefin and the evocative landscape of mid Wales.

My work is constructed on a framework, which is broken down but never lost. I begin with blocky, formal structures, which unravel over time. Differences in spatial registers allow for a focused, analytical engagement with paint and the properties of pigments. Some areas are thick and tarry, while others allow the ground to project through the paint. This light is vital. It is the lifeblood of the painting.

The canvas is a reflective site for examination and a place for contemplation and openness. Each painting is an exercise in give and take and a response to a sequence of events and resolutions: a record of time spent looking, moving and thinking.