Nicky Arscott unveils a brand new edition of her comic book series, A View From Rural Wales as part of her September residency for Wales Arts Review. Throughout 2017 these artists, including Nicky Arscott will take a leading creative role in what Wales Arts Review publishes, centring their skills on a challenging project over the course of a month. We were inundated with applications, receiving hundreds of emails about the positions, and it was no easy task whittling down all that talent to this final eleven. Our team of six editors debated long into the night, and in the end, we decided on a collection of people who we most want to work with, and whose work excites us. We think you will be excited by them too.
A View from Rural Wales by Nicky Arscott
I started the comic series ‘A View From Rural Wales’ a couple of years ago because I felt powerless as a constituent. Using my Conservative MP (Glyn Davies) as the main character, and taking the name from his blog, I wove some of his best ‘quotes’ and tweets into a story set in an alternate universe, where his conscience takes the form of a giant headless bee (Bwz). This is because the only time Glyn wrote back to me personally, he included a signed photo of himself standing next to a person dressed up as a giant bee. I think he might have been doing the ‘thumbs up’ sign, but I’ve lost the photo now.
Eventually I published ‘The Quest for the Golden Nugget’, but to be honest I get bored having not only to repeatedly draw Glyn’s face, but also keep reading his blog for inspiration, although the occasional ‘golden nugget’ still crops up from time to time.
Glyn has had many adventures, and, to me, has become a character in his own right. I’m talking about my fictional version of him, obviously. I’m actually quite fond of that version of him, as though I have Stockholm syndrome or something.
I don’t know why this is. Maybe it’s because he sees horror everywhere, and he needs a bee to sort his shit out for him, and Bwz always gives him a second chance.
I’m not fond of Glyn Davies in real life, but he won again with something like 52% of the vote in June, so for the time being I’m stuck with him, and he’s stuck with me, and basically I can go fuck myself.
Here is a brand new ‘A View From Rural Wales’ made especially for this month’s residency:
This piece, A View From Rural Wales by Nicky Arscott is part of the Artists in Residence series.
