Alix Edwards is a multi-platform artist based in Cardiff. She combines photography, painting, text, installation and spoken word to give a voice to marginalised communities. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Goldsmiths, London and an MA in photography from Central Saint Martin’s. Alongside her writing, she facilitates art and creative writing groups in her community including for Women’s Aid. Her work has been exhibited in various galleries across England and Wales and her writing has been published in various anthologies. She is currently working on a novel about the aftermath of domestic violence and creating an online programme to empower women creatively.
Read Alix’s creative response to her time on Representing Wales below.
He brings me coffee
He throws it at my face
Hot liquid hits the wall ‘
behind my head. Brown rivulets
trickle down sunshine yellow paint
the happy colour of sunflowers
I chose before I knew him
You poor cow, he sneers
I am a manatee, seven months pregnant
beached between wet sheets
too lazy to speak up
or get out of bed
My skin tingles. I want to fetch
the lavender oil to treat my scalds
I look up, scan the luminous stars
and planets I glued to the ceiling
and watch their sickly green glow
My cheeks throb I stay stuck
to my mattress. Too heavy to move
I’ll call for help while he’s out
My face burns I pretend
I am thin I lean on my elbows
push myself up past the comforting
smell of coffee
I place one swollen foot in front
of the other all the way
to the table The telephone is gone
ripped out of its socket
chucked on the floor
I make my way to the bathroom
and lock the door I scan
my blotchy red face in the mirror
I wonder if, in time these scars
like him will go away