REBECCA MASON

Artist Statement

As an Artist and Facilitator, I am inspired by the people I’ve met throughout my placement experiences during my Creative and Therapeutic Arts course at the University of South Wales. I’m a mixed-media artist, who enjoys experimenting with new materials, specifically when fitting a creative project's needs. An accessible and inclusive approach to facilitation widens participation and I am passionate about bringing creativity into people's daily lives, prompting the importance for all of us to have space to express ourselves.

My main values are to encourage and nurture creativity to improve wellbeing across communities whilst maintaining participants autonomy, by bringing people together, bridging connections and building support networks. I’m passionate about bringing art to everyone as creativity has a place in everyone's lives.

My process when working on building the concept for my Art Trail was to look at the generations of Pontypridd, I connected with a group of older adults that weekly meet up at Princes Cafe, where we spoke about what it was like for them growing up in Pontypridd and the places in Pontypridd that hold significant memories for them. These stories made me think about how different generations have different connections to places in Pontypridd and how meeting others reminds them of these places. I wanted to focus on the connections people share through places and the memories that people keep and capture the scene that holds significance to people, this is why I decided to create dioramas from the stories that locals from Pontypridd had shared with me.