O Dan yr Wyneb 2022

This is an extract from the last film by artist, composer and musician Sianed Jones.
Sianed was diagnosed with stage 4 Ovarian Cancer during the first Pandemic lockdown and decided to make a film about her experience with the illness and treatment.

Sianed invited me to paint her insides on her outside. The last day I spent with her was to make this film. She did not survive to see it completed, but Jacob Whittaker and I made a pact to complete it for her. Jacob contributed to the sound and did the filming and editing.

Double Aquarius 14:02:22

Jacob Whittaker and I were born on the same day and in celebration he invited me to participate in his ongoing project A Circle in 12 Parts

We performed online having prepared the piece with tracks that I chose from Jacob’s extensive vinyl collection and having sent him a selection of images. On the day I drew live and Jacob mixed my sound choices live. I drew both him and the sound on my iPad.

Cydgyfeiriad : Convergence 2021

This piece was made by following the run of water from its source at LLyn Y Manod, down the mountain, through the Ffestiniog valley to the place where it meets the sea in the Dwyryd estuary.

I carried a piece of vellum and laid it out on the ground near the water. Every mark on the vellum is an observed action and quality of the water at that place.

In the final piece the vellum is suspended from a branch pulled out from the river and hung with bones found near the sites on the mountain. Each bone is inscribed with the OS reference for that place and hung in order of the water’s descent.

I hope to connect you to time and place and immerse you in the quality of water that each place offers.

Bodhdh 1 – with Tola Custy 2021

Irish composer and musician Tola Custy sent me these music files during a lockdown in 2021. I went into my studio, played the music and filmed as I performed it on the page.

Mandala 2020

Made in the first lockdown. I used my grandfather’s compasses to make circles, then took a selection of things I have collected on my walks and placed them in the circles. One by one I took them away and drew them. It was a playful meditative task.

With permission I have added a track by Ffynnon (www.ffynnon.org)

Performing the Cynfal 2020

I walked a large roll of paper down to the river, laid it out so I could view the Cynfal on three sides. I drew my observations of the waters movement and responded visually to the sound it made. The paper was doused with river water and I used ink, brush, feathers, fleece, earth and moss to make marks with. As I performed, I was present throughout – in the moment, moment to moment. The quality of my presence is transmitted to the page.

The drawing was made in just over 60 minutes, condensed in the film to nearly 8 minutes.

With permission I have added two music tracks by Ffynnon (www.ffynnon.org), which reference the Welsh landscape.

Cân Elenydd 2019 (extract 1)

Part of the award-winning film by Sianed Jones and Jacob Whittaker.

Aired on S4C 11 November 2020 and at Wales International Film Festival 2021

Gwaith newydd sy’n cyfuno cerddoriaeth, lluniau a geiriau, ac sy’n datgelu mytholeg deuluol a asiwyd dros dair cenhedlaeth.

Combining music, images and text to reveal family mythology over generations, rooted in a series of letters from World War I.

Maria Hayes responds to Sianed Jones’s improvisations to generate healing spells for the suffering felt by the family and others affected by war.

Paid a Deud : Walk a Mile 2018

This piece uses my old shoes and sections of torn and restitched diaries to explore the nature of location and dislocation. At the time, images of migrant’s shoes washing up on beaches were on the news. My family also migrated and I lived in many places before settling in North Wales, where I was born.

The soundtrack was commissioned from Jordan Price-Williams and Patrick Rimes. They used a Welsh song Paid â Deud, which translates as Do Not Tell. Sometimes our stories are too much to tell – to relive. Sometimes we don’t tell. Yet how can we ever truly know each other unless we Walk a Mile in the other’s shoes?

Kymbri 2014 (extract)

Kymbri is a visual art and storytelling project by Lynne Denman and Maria Hayes. It combines storytelling, music, film and live projection drawing.

Kymbri is a re-telling of the stories of the Heroic Age of the Britons of the Old North – now southern Scotland and northern England, which was at that time British, but culturally and linguistically Welsh.

Y Gododdin is a treasure of Welsh literature by Taliesin and Aneirin and is arguably the oldest poetry in Europe. The poems tell of Llywarch Hen and Myrddin, and these words were once spoken by the people of the Old North. Kymbri gives them new voice and re-connects the language with the landscapes they describe, where the songs were composed and first sung.

NERC research

Aberystywyth University NERC research (1) 2022

Academics from Humanities and Earth Sciences were awarded funding that gave them the opportunity to discuss Climate Change across disciplines. I was invited to join the discussion by drawing as they talked. The funding was from NERC – Natural Resources Research Council.

Aberystywyth University NERC research (2) 2022

Academics from Humanities and Earth Sciences were awarded funding that gave them the opportunity to discuss Climate Change across disciplines. I was invited to join the discussion by drawing as they talked. The funding was from NERC – Natural Resources Research Council.

Aberystywyth University NERC research (3) 2022

Academics from Humanities and Earth Sciences were awarded funding that gave them the opportunity to discuss Climate Change across disciplines. I was invited to join the discussion by drawing as they talked. The funding was from NERC – Natural Resources Research Council.