Reiko Aoyagi

Reiko Aoyagi is a visual artist. Over the years she has been interested in exploring light as a transformative force. She is particularly interested in looking at this aspect in human relationships amongst culturally and individually different people. She is also interested in examining light as a phenomenon within our human condition that includes experiences of life and death.

青柳礼子はビジュアルアーティスト。長年にわたり、光の中にひそんでいる変容をもたらす力に興味を持ってきました。特に、文化的にも個人的にも異なる人々の間の人間関係において、この側面を考察することに関心を持ってきました。また、生と死などの人間条件の中で、光を考察することにも関心を持ってきました。

Artist gweledol yw Reiko Aoyagi. Dros y blynyddoedd mae hi ymddiddori mewn edrych ar olau fel grym sy’n gweddnewid pethau. Mae ganddi ddiddordeb penodol mewn edrych ar yr elfen hon mewn perthnasau dynol ymhlith pobl sy’n wahanol yn ddiwylliannol ac fel unigolion. Mae ganddi ddiddordeb hefyd mewn edrych ar olau fel ffenomenon yn ein cyflwr dynol sy’n cynnwys profiadau o fywyd a marwolaeth.

Extract of video
Transparent Grey, 12:15
(2025)
Reiko Aoyagi

TRANSPARENT GREY

I like to start with physical objects, especially fragile materials, as a metaphor for the vulnerable state of humans and the world in which we live. I have taken up fragmented, powdery bones that can be seen as wounded bodies. I felt the need to add some fluid around them, so I used some saliva, which has healing and protecting properties.

I’ve been interested in exploring the macro world in the micro world; I have taken videos of these materials under a microscope. The debris of bones are floating amongst the light creatures in the saliva. The sound was created to transmit space/time far away by playing singing bowls.

All these images and sounds are supported by transparent crystal light, as the space/time in which some kind of transformation may occur.

Reiko Aoyagi
27/9/2025

Llwyd Tryloyw

Rwy’n hoffi dechrau â gwrthrychau corfforol, a deunyddiau brau yn enwedig, fel trosiad ar gyfer cyflwr bregus pobl a’r byd rydyn ni’n byw ynddo.

Rwyf wedi defnyddio esgyrn sychion, toredig, y gellir eu gweld fel cyrff clwyfedig. Roeddwn i’n teimlo bod angen ychwanegu rhywfaint o hylif o’u hamgylch nhw, felly defnyddiais ychydig o boer, sydd â rhinweddau iachaol a gwarchodol.

Bu gennyf ddiddordeb mewn edrych ar y byd macro yn y byd micro; rwyf wedi creu fideos o’r deunyddiau hyn o dan ficrosgop.

Mae’r gweddillion esgyrn yn hofran ymysg y creaduriaid ysgafn yn y poer. Crëwyd y sain i gyfleu gofod/amser ymhell i ffwrdd drwy chwarae powlenni sy’n canu.

I gyd-fynd â’r holl ddelweddau a’r seiniau hyn, ceir golau grisial tryloyw, a hwnnw’n cynrychioli’r gofod/amser lle gallai rhyw fath o weddnewidiad ddigwydd.

Reiko Aoyagi

27/9/2025

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Tess Gray

Tess Gray is a Welsh artist based in Cardiff. She studied Ba (Hons) Fine Art Painting at Winchester School of Art.Recent awards and shows include, Occupata: Intersum, Oriel Canfas (2025) Experimentica: Call to Spring Array of Opposites Chapter (2024), You Look Fine Though Elysium Gallery (2022), Wales in Venice DAC commissioned artist (2022), Beep Painting Peoples Prize winner (2020). Her work traverses the strange landscape that exists between psyche and the tangible world and creates portals to view archetypal mental wanderings, emotional narratives and corporeal sensations. Her process uses combinations of automatic drawing, memory, imagination and observational sketches to create still and moving images.  

Artist o Gymru sy’n byw yng Nghaerdydd yw Tess Gray. Astudiodd BA (Anhrydedd) mewn Paentio Celfyddyd Gain yn y Winchester School of Art. Ymhlith ei gwobrwyon a’i sioeau diweddar mae Occupata: Intersum, Oriel Canfas (2025), Experimentica: Call to Spring Array of Opposites Chapter (2024), You Look Fine Though Oriel Elysium (2022), artist a gomisiynwyd gan Celfyddydau Anabledd Cymru ar gyfer Cymru yn Fenis (2022), ac enillydd y Beep Painting Peoples Prize (2020). Mae ei gwaith yn pontio’r tirwedd rhyfedd sy’n bodoli rhwng yr enaid a’r byd diriaethol, ac yn creu pyrth lle gwelwn ni grwydro meddyliol, naratifau emosiynol a chynyrfiadau chorfforol nodweddiadol. Mae’i phroses yn defnyddio cyfuniadau o luniadu awtomatig, cof, dychymyg a brasluniau arsylwadol i greu delweddau llonydd a symudol.

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Wind in the Rigging
Animation, 2:27, 2025

Amanogawa
Animation, 3:15, 2025

I started with the sense of not knowing. A sort of artists block which prevents the distribution of water from a fountain, more like a plug. Although I had strong ideas around this story of inspiration through music from Young Marble Giants to Susumu Yokota, there is a tentativeness also in working as a group, and especially with a live show there must be some overlaying patterns between us.

There was a miasma of small items floating around and it felt like I was just spewing things out, but often this is the only way to start, and there are many mythologies which start with creation as a saliva from the mouth. The mouth sequence became my first animation.

After our first group meeting there were already so many small connections through our ideas, it was as though we had already spent some time discussing these things.

Genesis
Microcosm
Ships
Psychic messages
Islands
Rivers
Flotsam and jetsam
Identity
Transformation 

So many things became auspicious after hearing all the artists in the group speak about their ideas. It seemed there were already invisible threads between all our work. I wanted to make book ends for the show that would in some way speak of and encapsulate the ideas from everyone in the group.

I went on with this idea of an unsure thought becoming an idea transmitting through time and space, maybe centuries and thousands of miles, into the mind of another.  

Wind in the Rigging being the last track of Young Marble Giant’s album Colossal Youth became the starting point, with its melody of trepidation, setting off on a journey to something new.

Then I set the second half to Amanogawa by Susumu Yokota. It means heavenly river and is the word for the Milky Way, the cosmos. The creation travels outward, joining the endless chain of human creation, no longer a possession of the creator, the idea becomes a reality in another’s mind, ready to transform again.

We don’t know what will happen when we open our mouths, when thoughts, gestures, languages are set outwards, anxiety often becomes the executioner of generosity. The animation became about the duty we have, to fulfil our ideas not for ourselves but for everyone.

Wind in the Rigging

Amanogawa

Dechreuais ag ymdeimlad o’r anwybod. Rhyw fath o anallu, fel hwnnw y bydd artistiaid yn ei wynebu, sy’n rhwystro dŵr rhag mynd o ffynnon. Yn fwy fel plwg. Er bod gen i syniadau cryf am y stori hon, stori am ysbrydoliaeth drwy gerddoriaeth Young Marble Giants a Susumu Yokata, mae rhywun yn betrus hefyd am weithio fel grŵp. A gyda sioe fyw yn enwedig, mae’n rhaid cael rhyw fath o batrymau yn haenau cyffredin droson ni.

Roedd yna lanast o bethau bach yn hofran o gwmpas, ac roeddwn i’n teimlo nad oeddwn i’n gwneud dim byd ond poeri pethau allan. Ond yn aml, dyma’r unig ffordd i gychwyn arni, a cheir nifer o fytholegau lle mae creu’n dechrau ar ffurf poer o’r ceg. Dilyniant y geg oedd fy animeiddiad cyntaf.

Ar ôl ein cyfarfod cyntaf fel grŵp, roedd modd gweld pob math o gysylltiadau bach eisoes drwy ein syniadau, ac roedd hi fel tasen ni eisoes wedi treulio cryn dipyn o amser yn trafod y pethau hyn.

Genesis

Microcosm

Llongau

Negeseuon seicig

Ynysoedd

Afonydd

Broc môr

Hunaniaeth

Gweddnewidiad

Roedd cynifer o bethau addawol gennyn ni ar ôl clywed yr holl artistiaid yn y grŵp yn sôn am eu syniadau. Roedd hi’n ymddangos bod cysylltiadau anweledig eisoes rhwng ein holl waith. Roeddwn i eisiau creu dechreuad a diweddglo i’r sioe a fyddai mewn rhyw ffordd yn adlewyrchu ac yn crynhoi syniadau pawb yn y grŵp.

Fe ddilynais i’r syniad hwn o fyfyrdod ansicr yn troi yn syniad sy’n cael ei drosglwyddo drwy amser a gofod, efallai dros ganrifoedd a miloedd o filltiroedd, i feddwl rhywun arall.

Wind in the Rigging yw trac olaf albwm Young Marble Giant, Colossal Youth, a dyna oedd y man cychwyn, gyda’i alaw anesmwyth yn dechrau ar siwrnai i fod yn rhywbeth newydd.

Ac wedyn gosodais yr ail hanner i gyd-fynd ag Amanogawa gan Susumu Yokota. Afon nefolaidd yw ystyr hynny, ac mae’n air am y Llwybr Llaethog, y cosmos. Mae’r greadigaeth yn teithio am allan, gan ymuno â’r gadwyn ddiddiwedd o greadigaethau pobl, sydd ddim bellach yn eiddo i’r crëwr. Daw’r syniad yn realiti ym meddwl rhywun arall, yn barod i weddnewid drachefn.

Dydyn ni ddim yn gwybod beth fydd yn digwydd pan fyddwn ni’n agor ein cegau, pan fydd meddyliau, ystumiau ac ieithoedd yn cael eu bwrw am allan. Bydd pryder yn aml yn rhoi diwedd ar haelioni. Daeth hwn yn animeiddiad am y ddyletswydd sydd gennyn ni i wireddu ein syniadau, nid er ein mwyn ni’n hunain, ond er mwyn pawb.

ICHI

ICHI, from Nagoya in Japan, takes the notion of a one-man band to new limits, combining his quirky handmade instrument inventions (stilt-bass, kalilaphone, balloon-pipes, hatbox-pedal-drum, tapumpet, percussion-shoes, and hattrick-hat) with steel-drum, ping-pong balls, typewriter, toys, and everyday objects all in the space of one short set. Somehow there's an ancient, ritualistic feel to his performances—like the misplaced leader of a tribe. With his simple concepts and playful presentation, ICHI has universal appeal and tours extensively as a solo artist in Japan, the UK, Europe, and further afield.

ICHI (イチ)プロフィール…イギリス在住の音楽家。これまで「mono」、「memo」、「maru」の3枚のアルバム、シングル数枚が日本とUKでリリースされ、イギリスBBC国営放送などでも楽曲が多数オンエアーされている。
スティールパンや木琴鉄琴、トランペットや、様々な自作楽器、タイプライター、生活用品などを演奏し唄い日本全国、UK、ヨーロッパ、オーストラリア、ニューヨーク、香港、台湾、韓国などでライブパフォーマンスや楽器づくりのワークショップなども行っている。
NHKアニメーション「おんがく世界りょこう」の主演アニメキャラクターのモデルでもあり、演劇やラジオ、テレビ番組、CM等への楽曲提供、PV映像作品も制作提供しており、近年では廃品廃材、漂流物などで制作したサウンド・インスタレーション作品”Toboggan Gakki”を多数発表したり、ブリストルで結成されたバンド、IchigoEvilではフロントマンとして精力的に活動している。

Mae ICHI, o Nagoya yn Japan, yn mynd â’r cysyniad o fand un dyn i lefydd newydd sbon, gan gyfuno’i ddyfeisiau offerynnol hynod y mae wedi’u creu â llaw (offeryn bas ar stiltiau, calilaffon, peipiau balŵn, drwm-pedal-bocs-hetiau, tapwmpet, esgidiau taro, a het-hatrig) â’i ddrwm dur, peli ping pong, teipiadur, teganau a gwrthrychau bob dydd, a hynny i gyd o fewn un set. Rywsut, mae teimlad hynafol, defodol i’w berfformiadau – fel tasai’n arweinydd llwyth yn y lle anghywir. Gyda’i gysyniadau syml a’i gyflwyniad chwareus, mae gan ICHI apêl eang ac mae’n teithio’n helaeth fel artist unigol yn Japan, y Deyrnas Unedig, Ewrop a’r tu hwnt.

Still from Choci Loni Meets Tobiume at Chapter, Cardiff
Photo credit: Noel Dacey

Still from Choci Loni Meets Tobiume at Chapter, Cardiff
Photo credit: Noel Dacey

Footage from Choci Loni Meets Tobiume at Chapter (2025)

Videography by Alastair Gray

Reina Kimura

Based in Japan, Reina Kimura was born in Aomori and is now a Tokyo based dancer and choreographer. She began studying ballet and modern dance at the age of four and is professionally active as a dancer. She has participated over an extended period in Sioned Huws (UK) ‘Aomori Project’ from 2008, performing in Japan, Europe, Singapore and Australia as dancer and co-choreographer. Since 2015 she has participated in ‘Odori-Dawns-Dance’. She also took part as a scholarship student in the choreographer course ‘KOKUNAI DANCE RYUGAKU’ in Kobe 2012, organized by the Agency for Cultural Affairs and Dance Box, a nonprofit organization. Her interest is in changes of the body by environment or language (dialect) and the state of people’s existence. In recent years, the question “For whom is dance?” has also become the core of her activities.

A hithau’n byw yn Japan, ganwyd Reina Kimura yn Aomori ac mae hi bellach yn ddawnswraig ac yn goreograffydd yn Tokyo. Dechreuodd astudio bale a dawnsio modern yn bedair oed, ac mae hi’n gweithio’n broffesiynol fel dawnswraig. Mae hi wedi cymryd rhan dros gyfnod estynedig yn yr ‘Aomori Project’ gyda Sioned Huws (y Deyrnas Unedig), a hynny ers 2008, gan berfformio yn Japan, Ewrop, Singapore ac Awstralia fel dawnswraig a chyd-goreograffydd. Ers 2015, mae hi wedi cymryd rhan yn ‘Odori-Dawns-Dance’. Cymerodd ran hefyd fel myfyrwraig ar ysgoloriaeth yn y cwrs coreograffi ‘KOKUNAI DANCE RYUGAKU’ yn Kobe 2012, a drefnwyd gan yr Asiantaeth dros Faterion Diwylliannol a Dance Box, sy’n sefydliad nid-er-elw. Mae’i phrif ddiddordeb yn y newidiadau i’r corff yn sgil yr amgylchedd neu iaith (tafodiaith) a chyflwr bodolaeth pobl. Yn y blynyddoedd diwethaf, mae’r cwestiwn “I bwy mae dawnsio?” hefyd wedi dod yn ganolog i’w gwaith. 


Still from Choci Loni Meets Tobiume at Chapter, Cardiff
Photo credit: Noel Dacey

“Choreography for Being Here”

Reina Kimura

I was the only participant from Japan in "Choci Loni Meets Tobiume. " I met Tess, the organizer, when Aoyagi Reiko, one of the project members, saw me dance with Sioned Huws at Chapter Arts Centre about 10 years ago. Dance connected us. Chapter Arts Centre is a memorable place, as it was the first time I performed outside of Japan since 2008, and I was thrilled to be able to return as a choreographer and dancer. It had been about seven years since I last visited Cardiff, so when I arrived I felt a bit strange as the atmosphere was suddenly different from Tokyo, but I also thought, "The light (sunlight) is beautiful/The shadows are beautiful. " From there, I walked about 40 minutes each way from my accommodation to the Chapter Arts Centre every day. At first, I was afraid to pass people on the street or when someone sat on a bench staring at me, so I walked quickly, but after about a week, I started to walk more slowly in those situations and was able to feel the physical atmosphere of the people passing by or standing there. I believe that these daily activities and changes in body and mind are closely related to dancing (and expressing it), so the 80-minute round trip became an important time for me to create and practice. Project members also shared ideas, and collaborations naturally emerged; for JT's piece, we filmed in front of Reiko's video work and danced to that video during the performance, and for Anushiye's piece, we recited her poetry in both Japanese and English.

I had been thinking for a long time about how I could exist in this land, in this space, and one day I saw a bird swimming among the moss at River Taff and thought, "I want to exist like that." I felt that the way it moves between things, as if connecting one thing to another, was the meaning of my existence as the only participant from Japan this time. So I created and presented "Choreography for Being Here." I hope that the weight, pain, warmth, suffering, and even a little joy were conveyed to someone. And meeting the project members who looked at my dance (existence) and said, "That's good!" was a great harvest in my life. I've always thought that wherever I visit, there are people living and working, and it's very dramatic. Even after returning to Japan, I think about how each person still exists today in faraway lands. I want to continue to question society through dance about the quiet dramas that already exist. And I will continue to slowly carry on with "Choci Loni Meets Tobiume." Let's create again.

August 26, 2025

Woke up at 8:30. Had a good sleep.

Had a good sleep.

Eat breakfast.

10:10 Tess came to pick me up.

We walked together to the CHAPTER.

On the way, we met a musician named Bob.

He's a traditional Welsh harp player.

A kind-looking man.

I hope he'll come to the performance on September 3rd.

As I was talking with Tess, I passed a road near CHAPTER. It brought back memories. The shops had changed a lot, but the atmosphere remained the same. I was finally starting to feel at home in this place. Little by little. When I turned onto the road leading to CHAPTER, I felt a sense of nostalgia and my heart tightened. I told Tess that this road was an emotional one for me.

Arrived at CHAPTER.

It brought back memories. It felt so calming, and I no longer had the tension and awkwardness I felt 17 years ago. Perhaps it's because I'm getting older. I was shown the gallery where Tess works. This is the place where I danced with Sioned in 2011. I remember the nostalgic floor. The shop I loved was gone, replaced by an exhibition space in a gallery. I spoke to a man from the gallery called John. He probably likes to joke around, as we seemed to be mixing jokes with the truth the whole time. There were parts of his English I didn't understand, but it was interesting because I could sort of understand what he was saying from his body language and voice.

I saw the foyer of the theatre where I'll be performing on September 3rd. We were not able to see inside, but I'm happy to be back here. It was the first place I danced outside of Japan in 2008.

There is a printmaking studio, a cinema and a cafe.

We bought a cafe latte and was shown around Tess's studio (a different building). It was originally an office building, but now it's more like a shared office, and artists, filmmakers, and music professionals use it as an atelier. Tess's studio was in one of the many rooms. Entering her creative space feels like entering her body and mind. I found the relationship between the sensations she has when listening to music, the world around her, and her creations very interesting. I don't go to clubs that often, but from that perspective, I thought I'd like to go.

I met Anushiye, a member of the project. Anushiye is friends with Sioned Hughes, a dancer and choreographer with whom I worked for many years, and she used to come to see our performances, so it's been a really long time since we last met. The last time we saw each other was in 2011. Tess invited me to this project, and I'm happy we were able to meet like this. We talked about the Edinburgh festival she was involved in until recently, Japanese public baths, parents, the balance between creative work and everyday life, and her ideas for performance. We also decided to go out somewhere on Friday. Apparently we're going to a garden somewhere. It seems there will be a music concert at CHAPTER in the evening. I'm looking forward to it.

After saying goodbye to Anushiye , I headed to the studio with Tess. This place holds many memories for me, as I practiced here the first time I came here in 2008, and again in 2011 and 2013. We even performed here in 2013. Tess said she thought she'd seen that performance, so we looked back at the footage from that time, and to my surprise, there was Tess in it.

“Amazing!” We both laughed. I was so happy, and I think it was fate.

In 2008, I was 25 years old, barely able to speak English, and still not knowing much about Sioned, but I still hung on and danced there desperately. I stayed there for about a month. I really miss it.

And now in 2025, I am here alone, writing this text.

I spent the time listening to "Choci Loni" by Young Marble Giants, which gives the project its title, and "tobiume" by Susumu Yokota.

Filling the space gently.

Endless repeat = no beginning or end

Walking in the room.

Floating feeling.

lenient

A picture of de-image / a moment / from the construction of the in-between A picture of de-image / a moment /from the construction of the in-between

It's been going on forever

It has neither begun nor ended.

Choreography for someone (that someone somewhere might carry out) → Paper?

Black rope

Mirror

Wind (electric fan?)

Walking running sitting standing lying down turning

Connecting

Connecting Boundaries in and out and both in and out and both

The center of gravity tends to drop downward.

If we divide the body into upper, middle, and lower, the lower part is lower.

The inside is lighter than in Japan, and the top is fluffier and looser than in Japan.

The Problem of Contour.

Being here.

August 30, 2025

I walk to Chapter.

It's raining today.

I listen to Yokota Susumu and stroke the outlines of the buildings and the lines of the land that come into view.

Still from Choci Loni Meets Tobiume at Chapter, Cardiff
Photo credit: Noel Dacey

“Coreograffeg dros fod yma”

Reina Kimura

Fi oedd yr unig gyfranogwr o Japan yn "Choci Loni Meets Tobiume". Cwrddais â Tess, y trefnydd, pan welodd Aoyagi Reiko, un o aelodau’r prosiect, fi’n dawnsio gyda Sioned Huws yng Nghanolfan Celfyddydau Chapter tua deng mlynedd yn ôl. Creodd dawnsio gysylltiad rhyngon ni. Mae Canolfan Celfyddydau Chapter yn lle sydd wedi aros ar fy nghof, gan mai dyma’r lle cyntaf i mi berfformio ynddo y tu allan i Japan ers 2008, ac roeddwn i wrth fy modd yn cael dychwelyd fel coreograffydd a dawnswraig. Roedd tua saith mlynedd wedi mynd heibio ers i mi ymweld â Chaerdydd ddiwethaf, felly pan gyrhaeddais i, roeddwn i’n teimlo’n go rhyfedd, gan fod yr awyrgylch yn sydyn yn wahanol iawn i Tokyo. Ond dyma feddwl, "Mae’r golau (golau’r haul) yn brydferth/Mae’r cysgodion yn brydferth." Byddwn i’n cerdded wedyn tua 40 munud bob ffordd, bob dydd, o fy llety i Ganolfan Celfyddydau Chapter. Ar y dechrau, roedd gen i ofn pasio pobl ar y stryd, ac ofn pan fyddai rhywun yn eistedd ar fainc yn syllu arna’ i, felly byddwn i’n cerdded yn chwim. Ond ar ôl tua wythnos, dechreuais gerdded yn arafach yn y sefyllfaoedd hynny, ac roeddwn i’n gallu teimlo awyrgylch corfforol y bobl oedd yn pasio neu’n sefyll yno. Rwy’n credu bod cysylltiad agos rhwng y gweithgareddau dyddiol hyn, rhwng y newidiadau yn y corff a’r meddwl, a dawnsio (a mynegi hwnnw). Felly daeth y daith ddwyffordd 80 munud yn amser pwysig ar gyfer creu ac ymarfer. Roedd aelodau’r prosiect hefyd yn rhannu’u syniadau, ac yn naturiol, dechreuwyd cydweithio. Ar gyfer darn JT, dyma ffilmio o flaen gwaith fideo Reiko a dawnsio i’r fideo hwnnw yn ystod y perfformiad. Ar gyfer darn Anushiye, dyma ni’n adrodd ei barddoniaeth mewn Japaneg ac yn Saesneg.

Roeddwn i wedi bod yn meddwl ers tro byd am sut y gallwn fodoli yn y tir hwn, yn y gofod hwn, ac un diwrnod gwelais aderyn yn nofio yn y mwsog yn afon Taf, gan feddwl, "Dyna sut rydw i eisiau bodoli." Roeddwn i’n teimlo mai’r ffordd roedd yr aderyn yn symud rhwng pethau, fel petai’n cysylltu un peth â rhywbeth arall, oedd ystyr fy modolaeth, fel yr unig gyfranogwr o Japan y tro hwn. Felly es ati i greu a chyflwyno "Coreograffeg dros fod yma." Rwy’n gobeithio bod y pwysau, y boen, y cynhesrwydd, y dioddefaint, a hyd yn oed ychydig o lawenydd wedi’i gyfleu yn y ddawns. Ac roedd cwrdd ag aelodau’r prosiect a wyliodd fy nawns (fy modolaeth) a dweud bod y ddawns yn un dda yn foment wych yn fy mywyd. Ble bynnag y bydda’ i’n mynd, rwyf wastad wedi cael fy nharo gan y ffaith y bydd pobl yn byw ac yn gweithio yno, ac mae’n ddramatig iawn. Hyd yn oed ar ôl dychwelyd i Japan, rwy’n meddwl am sut mae pob unigolyn yn dal i fodoli heddiw mewn gwledydd pell i ffwrdd. Rwyf eisiau parhau i gwestiynu cymdeithas drwy ddawns am y dramâu tawel sydd eisoes yn bodoli. A bydda’ i’n parhau i ddal ati’n ara’ deg gyda "Choci Loni Meets Tobiume." Dewch i ni greu eto.

Awst 26, 2025

Deffro am 8:30. Wedi cysgu’n dda.

Wedi cysgu’n dda.

Bwyta brecwast.

10:10 Daeth Tess heibio.

Fe gerddon ni gyda’n gilydd i CHAPTER.

Ar y ffordd, fe gwrddon ni â cherddor o’r enw Bob.

Mae’n chwaraewr telyn traddodiadol o Gymru.

Dyn sy’n edrych yn garedig.

Rwy’n gobeithio y bydd yn dod i’r perfformiad ar Fedi’r 3ydd.

Wrth i mi gerdded gyda Tess, pasiais i ffordd ger CHAPTER. Llifodd atgofion yn ôl. Roedd y siopau wedi newid llawer, ond yr un oedd yr awyrgylch. O’r diwedd, roeddwn i’n dechrau teimlo’n gartrefol yn y lle hwn. Yn ara’ deg bach. Pan droais i lawr y ffordd sy’n arwain at CHAPTER, teimlais ryw hen hiraeth a thynhaodd fy nghalon. Dywedais wrth Tess fod y ffordd hon yn un emosiynol i mi.

Cyrhaeddais CHAPTER.

Llifodd atgofion yn ôl. Roedd y lle’n teimlo mor heddychlon, a doeddwn i bellach ddim yn teimlo tensiwn na chwithdod fel 17 mlynedd yn ôl. Efallai am fy mod i’n mynd yn hŷn. Ces fy arwain i’r oriel lle mae Tess yn gweithio. Dyma lle dawnsiais i gyda Sioned yn 2011. Rwy’n cofio’r llawr hiraethus. Roedd y siop roeddwn i’n ei charu wedi diflannu, ac yn ei lle roedd gofod arddangos mewn oriel. Siaradais â dyn o’r oriel o’r enw John. Mae’n siŵr ei fod yn hoff o dynnu coes, oherwydd roedd hi’n teimlo ein bod ni’n cyfuno’r jôcs a’r gwirionedd drwy’r adeg. Doeddwn i ddim yn deall ei Saesneg i gyd, ond roedd yn brofiad diddorol, gan y gallwn i hanner deall beth roedd e’n ei ddweud drwy iaith ei gorff a’i lais.

Gwelais gyntedd y theatr lle bydda’ i’n perfformio ar Fedi’r 3ydd. Doedd dim modd i ni weld y tu mewn, ond rwy’n falch o fod yn ôl yma. Dyma’r lle cyntaf i mi ddawnsio y tu allan i Japan, yn 2008.

Mae yma stiwdio gwneud printiau, sinema a chaffi.

Prynon ni goffi latte a dangoswyd fi o amgylch stiwdio Tess (sydd mewn adeilad gwahanol). Swyddfeydd oedd yno’n wreiddiol, ond mae bellach yn debycach i swyddfa sy’n cael ei rhannu, gydag artistiaid, gwneuthurwyr ffilmiau a cherddorion proffesiynol yn defnyddio’r lle fel gweithdy. Roedd stiwdio Tess yn un o’r ystafelloedd niferus. Mae camu i’w gofod creadigol hi fel camu i’w chorff a’i meddwl. Diddorol iawn oedd y berthynas rhwng y teimladau y bydd hi’n eu cael wrth wrando ar gerddoriaeth, y byd o’i chwmpas, a’i chreadigaethau. Dydw i ddim yn mynd i glybiau’n aml iawn, ond o’r safbwynt hwnnw, dyma deimlo yr hoffwn i fynd.

Cwrddais ag Anushiye, aelod o’r prosiect. Mae Anushiye yn ffrindiau gyda Sioned Hughes, dawnswraig a choreograffydd y bûm i’n gweithio gyda hi am flynyddoedd lawer. Roedd hi’n arfer dod i weld ein perfformiadau, felly mae hi wedi bod yn adeg hir iawn ers i ni gwrdd ddiwethaf. Y tro diwethaf i ni weld ein gilydd oedd yn 2011. Gwahoddodd Tess fi i fod yn rhan o’r prosiect hwn, ac rydw i’n falch ein bod wedi gallu cwrdd fel hyn. Cawson ni sgwrs am ŵyl Caeredin, y bu hi’n rhan ohoni tan yn ddiweddar, am faddondai cyhoeddus Japan, am ein rhieni, am y cydbwysedd rhwng gwaith creadigol a bywyd bob dydd, ac am ei syniadau ar gyfer y perfformiad. Penderfynon ni hefyd fynd i rywle ddydd Gwener. Yn ôl pob golwg, rydyn ni’n mynd i ardd yn rhywle. Mae’n ymddangos y bydd cyngerdd cerddorol yn CHAPTER gyda’r nos. Rwy’n edrych ymlaen.

Ar ôl ffarwelio ag Anushiye , es i’r stiwdio gyda Tess. Mae gen i gynifer o atgofion o’r lle, gan i mi ymarfer yma pan ddes i yma’r tro cyntaf yn 2008, ac unwaith eto yn 2011 a 2013. Fe wnaethon ni hyd yn oed berfformio yma yn 2013. Dywedodd Tess ei bod hi’n credu ei bod hi wedi gweld y perfformiad hwnnw, felly edrychon ni yn ôl ar y lluniau o’r adeg honno, ac er syndod i mi, dyna ble roedd Tess.

“Anhygoel!” Fe chwarddon ni’n dwy. Roeddwn i mor hapus, ac rwy’n credu taw ffawd oedd hyn.

Yn 2008, roeddwn i’n 25 oed, prin yn gallu siarad Saesneg, a ddim yn gwybod rhyw lawer am Sioned, ond fe wnes i ddyfalbarhau a dawnsio yno gyda fy holl egni. Arhosais yno am tua mis. Rwy’n hiraethu’n fawr am y cyfnod hwnnw.

A bellach yn 2025, dyma fi fan hyn, yn ysgrifennu’r geiriau hyn.

Treuliais yr amser yn gwrando ar "Choci Loni" gan Young Marble Giants, cân sydd wedi rhoi’i henw i’r prosiect, a "Tobiume" gan Susumu Yokota.

Llenwi’r lle gan bwyll bach.

Ailadrodd yn ddi-ben-draw = dim dechreuad na diweddglo.

Cerdded yn yr ystafell.

Teimlad o arnofio.

trugarog

Llun o ddatgymalu delwedd / moment / o greu’r gyfod rhyngol / Llun o ddatgymalu delwedd / moment / o greu’r gofod rhyngol

Mae wedi bod yn digwydd erioed

Nid yw wedi dechrau na gorffen.

Coreograffi i rywun (y gallai rhywun yn rhywle ei wneud) → Papur?

Rhaff ddu

Drych

Gwynt (ffan trydan?)

Cerdded rhedeg eistedd sefyll gorwedd i lawr troi

Cysylltu

Cysylltu ffiniau i mewn ac allan a’r ddwyffordd, i mewn ac allan a’r ddwyffordd

Mae tuedd i ganolbwynt disgyrchiant ddisgyn tuag i lawr.

Os byddwn ni’n rhannu’r corff yn rhannau uchaf, canol ac isaf, y rhan isaf sydd isaf.

Mae’r tu mewn yn ysgafnach nag yn Japan, a’r top yn fwy gwlanog a llac nag yn Japan.

Problem Cyfuchlinau.

Bod yma.

Awst 30, 2025

Rwy’n cerdded i Chapter.

Mae’n bwrw glaw heddiw.

Rwy’n gwrando ar Yokota Susumu ac yn cyffwrdd amlinellau’r adeiladau a llinellau’r tir sy’n dod i’r golwg.

Footage from Choci Loni Meets Tobiume at Chapter (2025)

Videography by Alastair Gray

Anushiye Yarnell

Anushiye Yarnell is an interdisciplinary dance maker and performer whose work is drawn from personal experience, past and  future  mythologies. Her works examine the intersection of dream and fantasy realms with ordinary life, seeking out connections between day-to-day experiences of the world and anthropological, philosophical, poetic and artistic frameworks. A curiosity about the nature of Love as an orbital axis of Humanity has led Anushiye to curate as well as make work for three international performance Platforms- Animal Love, Heavenly Love and Future of Love Projects, bringing together artists from Japan, Peru, Korea and the UK to respond to the framing of Love as a question of human identity and self-understanding.

Crëwr dawnsiau a pherfformiwr sy’n pontio disgyblaethau yw Anushiye Yarnell ac mae’i gwaith wedi’i seilio ar brofiadau personol a mytholegau’r gorffennol a’r dyfodol. Mae’i gweithiau’n edrych ar sut y bydd byd breuddwydion a ffantasi yn plethu â bywyd cyffredin, gan chwilio am y cysylltiadau rhwng profiadau dyddiol y byd a fframweithiau anthropolegol, athronyddol, barddonol ac artistig. Mae chwilfrydedd am natur cariad fel echel sy’n cylchdroi o amgylch dynoliaeth wedi arwain Anushiye i guradu yn ogystal â chreu gwaith ar gyfer tri phlatfform perfformio rhyngwladol – prosiectau Animal Love, Heavenly Love a Future of Love. Mae’r rheini dwyn ynghyd artistiaid o Japan, Periw, Korea a’r Deyrnas Unedig i ymateb i’r ffrâm a osodwyd, sef cariad fel cwestiwn sy’n ymwneud â hunaniaeth pobl a hunan-adnabyddiaeth.

What to Bring to a Sleeping Island?
Still image from performance
Photo by Noel Dacey

What to Bring to a Sleeping Island?
Still image from performance
Photo by Noel Dacey

What to Bring to a Sleeping Island?
Still image from performance
Photo by Noel Dacey

WHAT TO BRING TO A SLEEPING ISLAND?

I had wanted more time to gather forage materials which crystallise Contradictions of Softness.

Something which unfolds from ARRAY OF OPPOSITES in my personal world...

If not to feast, to taste moments of how softness... whilst whole as sensation defies itself structurally, elementally. 

The soft time I had imagined was eradicated somehow by the countdown.

Asking myself of something I want to retrieve:

A peephole, a pocket into my dreaming mind. 

The immediacy of dreaming is so different from the immediacy of the more legitimate wake up anxieties of everyday survival, insurmountable duties of being present in society.

Yet dreaming can be troubling, turbulent, mystifying, reveal darkly, obscure, enlightening, desiring, defiant, ludicrous. Perhaps dreaming is my illegitimate child mind snatched away by vigilance and servitude within civilization.

The soft non compliant materials I wanted to roll out from  my desk.... 

Became a paper bed instead.

I realise the comfort I have of being surrounded by language I do not understand. 

Of the meaning and intention being both lifted and smothered.

Perhaps the struggle of saying something slowly and incompletely can be treasured.

Talking to Reina including enjoying misunderstandings and disjointed revelations...

I asked her to speak from the splinters I managed to salvage from my dreams.

My historical knowledge is pretty scant but I was drawn to the period where Japan made an artificial Island Dejima to exchange with traders. 

The peculiar ways of Islands with their verdant ruptures of belonging somehow feature in my family. 

I imagined a trade in dreams and the strange pauses between words and meanings.

Somehow that was a silken thread through the whole evening.

Harp, Courtly Dances of Pedestrian Interventions, Those whom dance in Spit and Bones, Moth****

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BETH SYDD EI ANGEN AR RYWUN AR YNYS CWSG?

Hoffwn i fod wedi cael mwy o amser i gasglu pethau fforio, 

i grisialu Anghysondeb Meddalwch.

Rhywbeth sy’n deillio o’r HOLL BETHAU GWRTHGYFERBYNIOL yn fy myd personol i...

Os nad i wledda, i brofi ambell ennyd lle bydd meddalwch... er yn gyflawn fel teimlad, yn ei ddiffinio’i hun yn strwythurol, yn elfennol. 

Wrth i’r amser agosáu, rywsut fe ddiflannodd yr amser meddal roeddwn i wedi’i ddychmygu.

Dyma ofyn i mi fy hun am rywbeth rwy’n dymuno ailafael ynddo:

Twll sbecian, poced i ganol fy mreuddwydion. 

Mae uniongyrchedd breuddwydio mor wahanol i uniongyrchedd y pryderon mwy dilys a gawn, pan ddeffrwn, am oroesi bob dydd, am y dyletswyddau anoresgynnol hynny o fod yn bresennol mewn cymdeithas.

Eto i gyd, gall breuddwydio fod yn brofiad aflonydd, yn gythryblus, yn ddirgelaidd, yn dywyll ei ddatgeliadau, yn ddyrys, yn eglurhaol, yn llawn dyheadau, yn herfeiddiol, yn hurt. Efallai mai breuddwydio yw fy meddwl fel plentyn siawns yn cael ei gipio ymaith gan yr elfennau gwarchodol, caethiwus hynny mewn gwareiddiad.

Daeth y deunyddiau meddal, anufudd roeddwn i eisiau eu tynnu o fy nesg... 

yn wely papur yn lle hynny.

Rwy’n sylweddoli’r cysur rwy’n ei gael drwy gael fy amgylchynu gan iaith nad wyf yn ei deall. 

Drwy’r ffaith bod yr ystyr a’r bwriad wedi esgyn ac wedi’u mygu yr un pryd.

Efallai fod modd trysori’r ymdrech i ddweud rhywbeth yn ara’ deg ac yn anghyflawn.

Sgwrsio â Reina gan gynnwys mwynhau camddealltwriaeth a datguddiadau digyswllt...

Gofynnais iddi siarad gyda’r ysgyrion y llwyddais eu hachub o fy mreuddwydion.

Go dila yw fy ngwybodaeth hanesyddol, ond cefais fy nenu gan y cyfnod pan greodd Japan yr ynys artiffisial, Dejima, i gyfnewid nwyddau â masnachwyr. 

Mae arferion hynod ynysoedd, a’u rhwygiadau hardd o berthyn, rywsut yn rhan o hanes fy nheulu. 

Dychmygais fasnachu mewn breuddwydion a’r oedi rhyfedd sydd rhwng geiriau ac ystyron.

Rywsut, dyna oedd y llinyn euraidd drwy’r holl noson.

Telyn Syrthiedig yr Hanner Duwiau, 

Dawnsfeydd Hardd y Pethau Bach Cyffredin, 

Y mân greaduriaid sy’n dawnsio mewn Poer ac Esgyrn, 

Sgriniau Gwyfynod, Cychod Tywod. ???  

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Footage from Choci Loni Meets Tobiume at Chapter (2025)

Videography by Alastair Gray

Ya Yonder

Ya Yonder is a sound artist from Cardiff. They explore audio in a playful way, where sound is stretched, bent, and joyfully twisted into uncharted and sometimes unhinged territory. Picture their sound as pop music refracted through a cracked and distorted hall of mirrors — a sonic landscape that's ever-evolving. In Ya Yonder's world, sound production is a fluctuating dance. Things fall apart and get chaotically stitched back together again to create moments of fidgety synthetic dance music as well as pockets of textual grounding softness.

Artist sain o Gaerdydd yw Ya Yonder. Maen nhw’n defnyddio sain mewn ffordd chwareus, lle bydd hwnnw’n cael ei ymestyn, ei blygu a’i blethu’n llawen nes camu i dir newydd, a hwnnw weithiau’n dir go wallgof. Dychmygwch eu sain fel cerddoriaeth bop wedi’i phlygu drwy fur o ddrychau sydd wedi cracio ac wedi’u hanffurfio – tirlun sonig sy’n esblygu’n barhaus. Ym myd Ya Yonder, dawns anwadal yw cynhyrchu sain. Bydd pethau’n torri’n ddarnau ac yn cael eu pwytho’n anhrefnus yn ôl at ei gilydd i greu momentau llawn cerddoriaeth ddawns synthetig, aflonydd, yn ogystal â phocedi o feddalwch testunol sy’n llonyddu rhywun.

Gestures Between Us
Image from performance
Photo by Noel Dacey

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Footage from Choci Loni Meets Tobiume at Chapter (2025)

Videography by Alastair Gray