Minding matter : reflecting and fixating on landscape painting

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study aimed to consolidate the changes in my perception of the concept of landscape brought about while creating a body of landscape paintings. In the context of practice-based research (reflection-in-action methodological approach where the researcher is also the researched), these paintings form the practical component ofthis study and as such constitute the basis of the theoretical thesis.Landscape refers to a way of seeing closely allied to a process of observation. The convention of landscape embodies cultural specific patterns of thinking constructed on the conceptualisation of the world in images, both physical andmental. As something that is culturally perceived, landscape influences the way we behave and therefore has a transformative effect on our relationship with our givenenvironments, marked by the acculturalisation of our physical world.Both the concept of landscape and the genre of landscape painting often relate to questions of ownership or - in the context of this study - a sense of belonging, which led me to investigate the notions of nostalgia, the sublime and the uncanny.Landscape hints at our yearning to be a part of the world, while simultaneouslyrevealing a desire to be different and to stand apart from the world. In this manner, landscape serves as both a bridge and a schism in the controversial dichotomy between nature and culture. This study led to the conclusion that landscape painting is an act of reflection that both separates our sense of self from our sense of the world, and affirms the deep bond we have with the world around us.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University