My name is Seren Trodden, and I have just completed a year of Art & Design Foundation at
Swansea College of Art, University of Wales Trinity Saint David. In the autumn I am starting a
three year Degree course in Design Crafts at Swansea College of Art.
I want to study Design Crafts because my goal is to be a craft practitioner-maker. Visual
creativity is completely central to my life. I have a constant urge to put objects together in
different materials, to build and create reimagined forms. Currently I work in lots of
different materials – cardboard, modelling clay, fabrics, paper, plastics, found objects,
natural forms. I am very much inspired by creatures of all sorts, both in nature and invented.
I am also passionate about animal rights, and often use my work to make statements about
environmental issues and the exploitation of animals.
My final Foundation exhibition piece was a full-size polar bear’s head and claw, where I
explored the theme of Neostalgia through world issues of climate change, animal
exploitation and species extinction. The robotic parts of the bear showed the mindset of
people who do not care about the consequences as they continue to exploit the earth’s
resources and destroy the environment, viewing these animals as lives that can be
sacrificed.
I plan to continue exploring these themes over the summer and on my Degree course, and
hope to share some of my work with you during my Jane Phillips Award Digital Residency,
while also looking at different mixed media as I explore the Design Crafts pathway.