Tina Rogers

Tina Rogers is a self-taught disabled painter and draughtsperson. Born in Wrecsam, she moved to Whitehurst Gardens aged three. Tina currently lives and works in Chirk. She has a long-standing interest in its industrial and social histories with a particular focus on class and the exclusions and limitations that this system perpetuates.

Tina’s ongoing series of portraits of ‘ordinary’ working class Chirkers will be presented as part of The Bridge that Connects. These painted portraits, which Tina began to develop at home during the pandemic, use photographs as their starting point, placing spotlight on community residents present and past – the earliest photograph comes from 1958 – in order to celebrate them as individuals with important stories to tell. The project presents an alternative history of Chirk that centres working class lives.

Tina observes that Chirk is a microcosm for life. Its characters, families and relationships are significant and deserving of attention. Tina is less keen to depict those in positions of power but to instead platform those without. “Your story matters to me” she explains. “I want to draw your mum, who had eight kids and never had a new coat.”

Tina is a lead artist for Pobl Y Ffin (People of the Border), a community arts collective based in north Wales. She has exhibited at The Royal Cambrian Academy in Conwy, and worked with Disability Arts Cymru and WeAreUnlimited. She has work upcoming in Galeri, Caernarfon, (2026) as lead artist on ‘F A T’.