Current work - Vestige

Jacques van der Merwe explores the relationship between the fragile nature of the body and the fading of memory. A connection is formed between the figure and the trace through the duration of time. Vestige requests viewers to consider the significance of forgetting and being in the now.

Some of these works draw from Marc Augé’s, the three forms of forgetting: Return, Suspense and Re-beginning. Requesting the audience to revisit the work to experience the slow deterioration of the human form as the oscillating water in the glass containers have impact on the plaster of Paris, cotton wool, beeswax, water and bandages as medium. In turn, we become conscious of our transitory nature as humans and the value of forgetting.

Jacques van der Merwe’s art explores the human condition through various mediums including drawing, painting, video, and sculpture. Van der Merwe is interested in the fading of memories, traces, entropy, and the immigration process.