05/05/2026
Last Thursday night at Hetty felt like stepping into an open‑air cathedral of creativity. As dusk settled over the valley, the Artworkers’ showcase from came alive, fire glowing through stained‑glass colours, translucent 3D sculptures and hand‑built forms that shimmered like living artefacts.
We wandered the old industrial site, transformed into a kind of spiritual pilgrimage. The towering metal structures, those cage‑like frames and great circular wheels — are the original winding frames of Hetty Pit. These wheels once guided the steel cables that lowered miners underground and hauled coal back to the surface.
On Thursday, they became something else entirely.
The welded metal phoenix stood on the ground, lit in flames. Its smoke and flickering vapours rose up the brick walls and drifted through the old winding frames, climbing the same architecture that once powered the valley. The firelight flickered across the audience’s faces, and the ethereal music made the whole place feel alive, as if the past and present were breathing together.
Later, back in my studio, I looked at a painting I’ve been working on for about 15 years, an abstract piece I never fully understood, and suddenly I could see those structures in it.
Sometimes the artwork knows before I do. Sometimes the future catches up with the present, and the meaning arrives when it’s ready.
This sharing marked the end of three weeks of training funded by Welsh Government and Amazon Creative Industries, where Artworkers learned rigging, pyrotechnics, outdoor lighting, sound and movement. A beautiful glimpse into what they’ve been creating together.
CitrusArts
