Carol Hiles’ work is focused on painting and drawing. She exhibits regularly and is a member of Butetown Artists, based at Bay Art In Cardiff. Carol has substantial experience as an artist working in the field of arts and health and was engaged as Artist in Residence for Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust for eleven years, a post which was followed by a residency at the Royal Gwent Hospital in LLantrisant. She has also pursued a successful career in Higher Education and is currently a Senior Lecturer in Art and Postgraduate Coordinator for the Faculty of Creative Industries at the University of South Wales.
Member Since 1991My subject is public gardens. I’m drawn to the arrangements of natural and man-made forms within parks, which seem to combine a sense of liberty with confinement. I enjoy the encounter of formality with vivid nature in these spaces and aim to reflect the pleasures and visual tensions of that coexistence in my work. I start with drawings made on the spot, which are re-arranged in the studio; natural, manufactured or manicured elements from parks are re-positioned and alternative spaces and visual relationships are explored. At this point colour is introduced to create another environment and experience, which at times, alludes to the metaphysical. This fusion of reality and invention acts as an echo of the contrivance and gloriousness of gardens. My paintings mirror the organisation of these spaces whilst celebrating their form, surface and colour.