Elen Mai Wyn-Jones was a queer feminist artist and an outspoken advocate for mental health – she often participated in Afiach’s events. Most people knew her as Ellie and she was a much-loved character in Cardiff, who died in November 2015. In 2019 we held an exhibition of her work at RUG Gallery in Cardiff, and it felt like we finally got to celebrate her life in a way she would be proud of. I still have some of the zines we made for the exhibition ‘Knitting & Screaming’ available here on Bandcamp.
This is an interview I did with Ellie in 2013 when I was writing an article for our student newspaper about Metanoia… I feel quite cringey about some of the questions I asked (please ignore my voice!), but when I found this interview on the depths of one of my old hard-drives it really made me laugh and smile. It captures Ellie at her best – passionate about art and community, full of positive energy and ready to take on the world! I hope you’ll enjoy listening to it as much as I did ❤
I used parts of the interview as samples on my tribute song to her on my Efa Supertramp album ‘Apocalipstick Blues’ – Ellie had so much good messages to give to the world! I hope we can keep spreading them ❤
