Leading galleries come together for shared International Women’s Day exhibition

Stephen Price

Two of Wales’ leading art galleries are co-presenting an exhibition for International Women’s Day 2026 featuring moving new works from Annie Morgan Suganami.

To mark International Women’s Day 2026, Oriel Canfas Cardigan and TEN Cardiff present ‘Olion Bywyd • Life Lines’ – a visiting exhibition by artist Annie Morgan Suganami at the esteemed gallery in Ceredigion that honours the resilience, humour, and quiet strength of Welsh women.

Gallery TEN’s Cat Gardiner, who curates the extraordinary exhibition, shared: “It makes perfect senes to expand the reach of this extraordinary body of work by Suganami – it was a hit with gallery visitors when first shown, and such important and revolutionary artwork.

“New portraits will be included in this second iteration – further additions to Suganami’s lovable crew. It’s a real pleasure to collaborate on this exhibition – a partnership that stems from a shared conviction between Canfas and TEN that galleries exist to support the arts and to uplift the artists of our country.”

Rooted in the belief that art can give voice to those so often left unseen, the two galleries unite their programmes for International Women’s Day to honour women not only as subjects, but as storytellers, anchors, and witnesses to their times.

All of Suganami’s subjects are placed at the centre of the painting, as is customary in classical portraiture, where the sitter is in the spotlight, to be painted and recorded – and remembered.

There are a few hints of traditional dress – the shawl, a striped cloth or an apron, but the fine detail of the painting is in the skin, with the faces and hands in laps drawing attention.

There is no hiding here, no unnecessary beautification, no botox and its like. What we see is the real, honest and natural attitude of the body. We see history and experience of life in the skin with its marks and wrinkles – evidence of a lifetime of love and grief, of worry and laughter, of carrying, caring and doing. These are women who have lived, with the privilege of long years sealed in the soft skin.

Suganami’s rich, flowing paintings demonstrate the confident skill of her brush. The paint is reworked again and again, with layers built up, rubbed back and rebuilt again, before being accented with strong outlines and neon flashes.

With one skilful line of the brush, the shoulder of a blouse, a sleeve fold and a heavy bosom come into view. The ease with which Suganami uses her medium means that her subjects are not stiff and formal but rather lively and dynamic.

The combination of fine detail alongside loose and immediate markings within one painting offers various points of interest for the eye. As the use of this combination varies from one painting to another, it further highlights the different personalities of the sitters.

One of the successes of this body of work is the tremendous tenderness, humour and love shown to the sitters – as if representing all the elderly women who made a quiet impact on the generations who followed. Those matriarchs – central to family life, overlooked by society – rightfully embodied in paint.

Cat Gardiner added: “Deliberately scheduled to coincide with IWD, this exhibition celebrates older women – those matriarchs we recognise, but rarely portrayed and lauded.

“Annie had a career as a professional musician, undertook a Fine Art BA after retirement and – now in her 70s, has been painting for the past 10years. So there’s inspiration abound – from the artist to her subjects.”

Meet the Artist Saturday 7 March 1-3 pm at Canfas Gallery, Cardigan SA43 1HY. The exhibition runs up until 28 March. Gallery open Tuesday-Saturday 10:30-16:00