Mark Rothberg – ‘Hiraeth’ – Student Showcase

Mark J Rothberg

‘Hiraeth’

Using the Welsh word Hiraeth (loosely translated into English as: “a deep, inborn sense of yearning for a home, a feeling, a place or person that is beyond this plane of existence. It may have been once of this world, yet now it is no longer”) as my focus point, combined with my interest in landscape and abstraction, I have created a series of images which express a curiosity concerning the mutability of the history of place, and the landscape as a vessel for memory, made visible through partial glimpses, fragmented narratives and the layering of place, time and space. The images portray fragments of places such as parks, woodland and rural landscapes – the loci of personal stories and memories. Each image is inviting, encouraging associations with one’s own memories and interpretation of Hiraeth. Some images are blurred while others are sharper, echoing the way in which memory functions. I investigate the texture and surfaces of these places, offering an alternative document of the understanding of landscapes both real and imagined within the context of a wistful yearning for a time and a place long since passed.

Mark’s work was voted in to get a place on our blog by his fellow students.