Marijke Van Velden

Marijke Van Velden holds a BA degree in Fine Arts and an MPhil in Illustration, both at Stellenbosch University (2008, 2012). In 2009 she won the Sasol New Signatures award and continues to take part in group exhibitions locally. Marijke approaches art-making in both an intuitive and conceptual manner, with a preference for analogue over digital. She is drawn to the contemplative physicality of the art-making process: as an avid collector and a believer in the importance of play, Marijke's work is often informed by the mediums she uses. By doing so, she creates sensory intrigue and draws attention to the hermeneutical quality of the medium/s.

For the (un)Earthed exhibition, Marijke presents part of a growing collection of locally discovered historic ceramic shards. These pieces, initially unearthed by the digging of optic fibre cable ditches, have steadily accumulated over the past three years and can be traced to various sites across the town of Stellenbosch. Her growing curiosity for the stories that accompany these pieces has led to a psychogeographic mode of inquiry in which Van Velden explores the fragmented, layered, and complex history of the cosmopolitan town of Stellenbosch. Most notably, the artist questions the multiplicity of ways in which the town of Stellenbosch is experienced as ‘home’ and as ‘not home’ by those who inhabit it and those who have gone before.

The pieces exhibited here represent the raw material of a public artwork to be assembled throughout the duration of the (un)Earthed exhibition.