Cardiff Met graduates artwork on display at Wales heritage site

Three Cardiff Metropolitan University BA (Hons) Ceramics Degree graduates art works are now on show at Wales’ most famous pottery, Nantgarw China Works, near Cardiff.

Home to the famous Nantgarw porcelain, Nantgarw China Works is the last remaining 19th century porcelain factory in the UK. Now a museum and visitor attraction, the heritage site produced porcelain so fine it was bought by royalty.

Thanks to new funding created by the Contemporary Art Society for Wales (CASW), the emerging artists from Cardiff Met have had the chance to produce and show new work, fostering creative talent in Wales.

Each of the Cardiff Met graduates work was inspired by Wales’ heritage. Bringing a range of artistic styles and ceramic techniques from the experimental, to the precise art of Japanese nerikomi.

Toni de Jesus, based in Cardiff, graduated from Cardiff Met in 2018 and is an emerging artist, winner of the FRESH award at the British Ceramics Biennial 2019 and has already had work shown at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea.

Taking inspiration from her hometown in the south Wales valleys, Naomi Palmer, who graduated in 2024, creates striking, translucent artworks., using porcelain and parian clays.

Sophie Jo Edwards, from Llandysul, graduated from Cardiff Met in 2024 and has also brought a unique artistic response to Nantgarw using materials foraged from the heritage site.

Sophie said: “Being invited to create work for Nantgarw has been a privilege which has provided momentum in my transition from student to artist, and it’s been meaningful to contribute to the museum’s rich history.”

Nantgarw is the only surviving early-1800s porcelain works in the UK and the porcelain produced here is still considered some of the finest ever made. Opened in 1813, it continued for a century as a pottery, also making household wares and tobacco pipes.

Now operated by a charitable trust, visitors today receive a guided tour of the original factory buildings, a historic and contemporary ceramics collection, as well as a chance to relax with a cuppa or browse the gift shop, perfect for pottery-lovers.

Duncan Ayscough, Senior Lecturer on the BA (Hons) Ceramics Degree at Cardiff Metropolitan University said: “It is great to hear that three Cardiff Met ceramics degree graduates, Toni, Naomi and Sophie Jo, have been selected for this prestigious award.

“The Nantgarw China Works is renowned for its relentless pursuit of technical excellence and creative innovation. These makers all understand the values of this pottery in their own creative journeys and have developed their own distinctive materials and creative language, creating intriguing and beautiful works that engage with contemporary societies values and challenges.”

New work by each of the artists have been acquired by the museum thanks to support from the Contemporary Art Society for Wales (CASW) creators of the prize funded by the gift of the late Professor Bryan Hibbard and named in memory of Bryan and his late wife, Dr Elizabeth Hibbard, both long-term supporters of CASW.

Rowland Davies, Chair of CASW said, “CASW is delighted that the first Hibbard Prize has been awarded to Nantgarw China Works Museum and has been used to acquire such exciting new ceramic works.”

Find out more about the Nantgarw China Works Museum on the website.