- Take a glimpse inside Rhiannon’s alternate universes
- Spring Fling showcases emerging and experimental artists
Rhiannon Dewar loves taking themes of childhood play and girlhood innocence like dolls, toys, birthday cakes and pink frocks, then giving them a dark twist.
She calls it “bubblegum horror”.
The 30-year-old from Dumfries is one of the emerging artists taking place in this year’s Spring Fling open studios weekend from 24-26 May.
Like many people Rhiannon Dewar feels she has never fitted comfortably into society’s norms and niceties.
Indeed, she has always been attracted to areas of culture like horror and the supernatural which have more time and sympathy for those who feel alienated by conventional society.
Something she says sets her apart is a condition called maladaptive daydreaming where people are plunged into long, intense, detailed daydreams that can impair their lives.
Rhiannon, however, uses the condition to power her art.
She says: “Maladaptive daydreaming is a compulsion that involves an intense and hyper-detailed creative ability for daydreaming on a daily basis.
“Since childhood I have built up intricate universes I call Bubble Zones. They play host to a cast of characters, creatures and universal rules that have been built up since childhood.
“My art gives people a glimpse of these pocket dimensions.”
Rhiannon has a first in contemporary art from Duncan of Jordanstone in Dundee and is the recipient of one of the sought-after Upland Emerge awards.
Visitors to Spring Fling will be able to see installation work and live performances that offer a glimpse of the parallel dream worlds she calls Bubble Zones.
These are hyper-real places with characters, creatures and rules that have been developing within her for her whole life.
The result is work that she says sometimes “focusses on the cuter, cuddlier side of death” and which is closely related to her own sense of being an outsider.
She says: “I’ve always had a hard time with belonging. I’ve always been told I’m too much, better in small doses, that I give people the creeps, I’m too emotional, too fond of crying, too cringe, too big in body and personality.
“The pre-defined social rules that make sense to everyone else meant nothing to me.”
Rhiannon’s art embodies the sense of otherness she has had as a child and as an adult.
She says: “I’ve had a fascination with the strange and spooky since I was little – whether it was pretending my Barbies were ghosts or play-pretending I was fighting Bacchae with Xena and Buffy.
“What grownups considered horror was always part of my play – especially if it was campy.
“For example, doll parts are a large part of this exhibition. Dolls are often used in horror as a representation for the uncanny valley, in which I take a huge interest as someone who has never quite fitted the mould.
“Dolls tend to make grownups uncomfortable. The threat of being watched by these things that are… ever so slightly off.”
The annual Emerge awards provide promising artists with a £1,000 bursary, mentorship by established artists and makers and the chance to exhibit in Spring Fling.
Natasha Kinsella, Events and Exhibitions Development Manager for Upland CIC which runs Spring Fling, said:“One of our aims is to nurture emerging artists and provide them with the support they need to transition from the student to the professional arts world.
“Someone like Rhiannon creates art with a powerful impact and which explores some dark and important themes – like eating disorders and death.
“Some are issues that are personal to her, but all will resonate with the many other people who feel detached or alienated from society.”
The other 2025 Emerge award recipient is Murray Young, another mixed media artist who is also taking place in Spring Fling and will be exhibiting in Wigtown.
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Ends
Notes for editors
The full Spring Fling list
Ceramics: Andrew Priestman, Clare Dawdry, Fitch & McAndrew, Heather Armstrong, Joshua Williams, Mary Gladstone, Rebecca Woods, Ruth Elizabeth Jones, Samuel Sparrow, Frances Ross, Julian Francis, Lorna Phillips
Costume design: Alexander Rigg
Glass: Amanda J Simmons, Katy Quinn
Hand-forged knives: Chris Renshaw, Timothy Westley
Hats: Kay Ribbens
Illustration: Ailsa Black, Louisa Birdsall, Sarah Stewart, Suzi Plunkett
Jewellery: Alison Macleod, Jesse Ball, Kaz Robertson, Natalie Vardey, Sheena McMaster, Sonny Cooper
Metalwork: Adam Booth, Nathan Robinson
Mixed Media: Alison Corfield, Linda Mallett, Martha Schofield, Murray Young, Rhiannon D Dewar, Stephanie Lightbown
Painting and Drawing: Angela Lawrence, Anne Butler, Elizabeth Dagg, Elizabeth Gilbey, Gloria Newlan, Hazel Campbell, Heather Davies, Heather M Nisbet, Kate Bentley SWA, Kevan McGinty, Martin Clarkson, Michael Johnson, Scott McFarlane, Amanda Hayler, Catherine Corfield, Maggie Ayres, Mark Welland, Catherine Coulson, Julie Hollis, Sally Jennings, Suzanne Stuart Davies
Photography: Alistair Hamilton, David Quinn, Claire Cameron-Smith, Joshua Miles, Laura Boswell, Sarah Ross-Thompson, Alan Cameron, Pamela Grace
Sculpture: Kerry Samantha Boyes
Textiles: Jo Gallant, Morag Macpherson, Rebecca McLellan, Gail Kelly, Laura Derby, Yvette Phillips, Linda Ann Irving, Gyllian Thomson, Louisa Ruthven
Wood: Jane Alison Fraser, Jay Rubinstein, Daniel Lacey, Ian Cameron-Smith, Rachel Ashcroft, Mike Dixon.
About Upland
Upland CIC (Community Interest Company) supports artists and makers based in, and with connections to, the region. It delivers, events, training, networking, support and opportunities as part of a year-round programme to benefit the region, its artists, communities and economy. Upland CIC runs the annual Spring Fling contemporary visual art and craft open studios weekend in Dumfries and Galloway. It works closely with other arts bodies in the region to further-strengthen the sector. Upland is based at Gracefield Arts Centre in Dumfries and exists to:
- provide leadership in the visual art and craft sector regionally, collaborating with the cultural sector across Dumfries and Galloway and beyond.
- raise the profile of the visual art and craft sector of our rural area in a national and international context and build meaningful partnerships to support this.
- listen to local visual artists and makers and respond by providing relevant support and act as a collective voice to advocate on their behalf.
- support the engagement of a wide diversity of audiences in visual art and craft and initiate opportunities that promote inclusive, meaningful participation.
- produce and facilitate ambitious creative projects that are innovative and experimental in approach.
Its funders are Creative Scotland, D&G Council, The Holywood Trust, ASWT, Barfill.
For media information contact Matthew Shelley on 07786 704299 or at [email protected] or call Upland on 01387 213 218.