Happy St David’s Day
Meical Watts
Lleu Llaw Gyffes, 1997
Blue granite glacial boulder
77 x 112 x 31 cm
30 x 44 x 12 in.
Lleu Llaw Gyffes is a warrior, magician, and hero in Welsh mythology, and appears most prominently in the fourth branch of the Mabinogi, or Pedair Cainc Y Mabinogi, the earliest prose stories in the literature of Britain. The tales were compiled from oral tradition in the 11th century.
The fourth branch focuses on the tale of Math fab Mathonwy, and tells the story of Lleu’s birth, life, marriage, death, resurrection, and accession to the throne of Gwynnedd. Watts has carved Lleu with wings, referencing a story in which he transforms into an eagle in an attempt to evade an attack from Gronw Pebr, the lord of Penllyn.
Meical Watts uses local slates, ancient granites, and stones carried and left by glaciers in his work. He works with what has already been shaped by ice and water. These are then polished to reveal the different types of stone hidden beneath the weathered surface. Most of his work is done by hand, hammer and chisel, files, and rifflers. Much of this process has not changed since the Middle Ages, which, along with his themes of Welsh mythology, gives the work a timeless quality - transcending historical chronology.
Meical Watts studied Fine Art at Norwich School of Art in the early 1980s. In 1985 he started an apprenticeship with the sculptor and letter cutter Jonah Jones.
Watts has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in the UK and abroad. His work can be found in Private collections in Wales, England and America. Public collections include National Westminster Bank and Norwich Contemporaries.
Meical Watts Lleu Llaw Gyffes at Roche Court Sculpture Park