Iwan Bala

Iwan Bala studied at Aberystwyth University and Cardiff School of Art & Design. The recorded working language is English. Work by Iwan Bala is recorded in the collections of National Museum Cardiff, National Library of Wales, MOMA Machynlleth and University of South Wales Art Collection Museum. Distinctions recorded are Gold Medal.

• Name — Iwan Bala • Birth Name — Richard Iwan Ellis Roberts • Born — May 1956 • Birthplace — Sarnau, Merionethshire, Wales • Field — Painting / Drawing / 3D Assemblages / Art Literature • Training — the University of Wales Institute Cardiff Howard Gardens College of Art, Cardiff University of Aberystwyth • Awards — Gold Medal in fine art, National Eisteddfod of Wales Glyndŵr Award.

Iwan Bala was born Richard Iwan Ellis Roberts in born May 1956 in Sarnau, Merionethshire, near Bala. He was raised in Gwyddelwern, near Corwen, Denbighshire. Bala is Welsh-speaking. He attended Ysgol y Berwyn comprehensive school in Bala. He studied geography and politics at the University of Aberystwyth from 1974, then from 1975 until 1977 he studied fine art at Cardiff College of Art. He gained an MA in fine art from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff in 1993.

In 1990 Bala became artist-in-residence at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. In 1993 he presented the S4C arts programme. From 2007 to 2015 Bala was senior lecturer at the School of Creative Arts and Humanities at University of Wales, Trinity Saint David, Carmarthen. Bala creates his art-work using memorised and imagined maps and landscapes, commenting on Welsh culture. He is a founder member of The Artists' Project, an international group led by artists that organised art events in New York City, Poland, Spain, Israel, and Wales. He was a member of the Ysbryd/Spirit group of painters, formed by John Uzzell Edwards.

In 2001 and again in 2008, Bala's work was exhibited in the Euro-Celtic Visual Art Exhibition mounted by Wales Arts International, along with fellow Ysbryd / Spirit member, John Uzzell Edwards. In 2012 Bala collaborated with poet, and fellow lecturer at Trinity Saint David's, Menna Elfyn, for an exhibition called Field-notes.

Bala's work is held in many public and private collections, including the National Museum Wales (Derek Williams Trust), the Museum of Modern Art Wales, the Imperial War Museum, the Contemporary Art Society for Wales, Newport Museum and Art Gallery, Y Gaer, A Fundacion Casa Museo "A Solaina" de Pilono, Galicia, The University of Glamorgan and The National Library of Wales.