Using a technique that involves large-scale drawings made up of countless individual rubbings of coins, Maria van Rooyen’s solo exhibition at Salon 91 in Cape Town explores the themes of nostalgia, travel, homesickness and the longing for faraway places.
The Long Way Home will run until 30 October 2010. Van Rooyen’s use of layered rubbings create a striking visual while also being of much personal and historical significance to the theme of the exhibition.
On the theme, Van Rooyen explains: “Homesickness is a common response to the forcible, accidental or even willing separation from home. But what, after all, is ‘home’? Is it a place, an idea or a memory, a place we construct to juxtapose our current ‘here’? “
Victimhood and displacement are more themes that Van Rooyen often explores in her work. Her work is represented in private and institutional galleries nationwide.
