"Elin’s images create an ahistoric dreamscape, sparse visual clues pinning the images to a particular place or time ... She seems to almost try to bridge the gap between herself and Brenda, by compressing time and creating a space that they could both occupy. It is a dream book: these are pages to float through." – Grug Muse, Folding Rock
"This book is one to sit with. Let it draw your eyes to and fro from text to image, soften your mind’s ears and eyes. Think of two women – Welsh artists, drawn to the margins of land on myth. The images in this book help me hold on to some of the wonder that I find in total lack of distraction, on Enlli. May you find some of that wonder too in the pages of Sweet Melancholy." – Mel Perry, Nation. Cymru
Sweet Melancholy
an odyssey from Enlli to Hydra
trwy lanw, trai a chwedlau
Sweet Melancholy is a project intertwining film photography with the words of the artist Brenda Chamberlain in a visual exploration of Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island) and the Greek island Hydra.
Mae Sweet Melancholy yn brosiect sy’n cydblethu fy ffotograffiaeth ffilm gyda geiriau’r artist Brenda Chamberlain, mewn archwiliad gweledol o ynys Enlli ac ynys Hydra yng Ngwlad Groeg. Dros y flwyddyn ddiwethaf, rwyf wedi trochi fy hun yng ngwaith Brenda, ei chelf a’i llenyddiaeth, a thrwy wneud hynny, wedi darganfod yr edafedd sy’n cydblethu ein bywydau a’n llwybrau. Mae hyn wedi arwain at yr astudiaeth eang hon o fywyd ar ynys, celf, llenyddiaeth, chwedloniaeth a ffotograffiaeth.
‘Over the past year, I have immersed myself in Brenda’s work, both art and literature, and in doing so, have discovered the many threads that intertwine our lives and paths, leading to this broad study of island life, art, literature, mythology and photography.’
Elin Gruffydd is a film photographer from Pen Llŷn, north Wales. Her work explores nature, simple beauty, intimacy and femininity.
Rwy’n ffotograffydd ffilm o Ben Llŷn. Mae fy ngwaith yn archwilio byd natur, prydferthwch syml, agosatrwydd a benyweiddra. Rwy’n anelu i ddal eiliadau tawel mewn gofod breuddwydiol, trwy len shiraethus ffilm, wedi f’ysbrydoli gan y môr a’r mynyddoedd, a’r canol llonydd distaw rhwng y ddau.