Gesturing Landscape

Glacial erratics are a familiar feature of the Drenthe landscape. For artist Sibylle Eimermacher, these messengers from distant places symbolize the wandering existence that continually shapes who we are. Driven by a personal search for a sense of belonging, she traces the routes of these erratic boulders back to Scandinavia, from where they were carried to the Netherlands by glaciers during the Ice Ages. As her research into the question ‘When do we feel at home?’ unfolds, she places this age old journey within a broader, cosmic context, in which the cycles of the Ice Ages are connected to the Earth’s orbit around the sun. In doing so, a perspective emerges in which humanity, landscape and cosmos are deeply interconnected. Within this interconnectedness, she finds the confidence that a wandering existence holds an underlying order that may transcend human understanding. Sibylle Eimermacher was born in Germany and has lived in the Netherlands for more than half of her life. Yet from an early age, she has felt at home in the untouched mountain landscapes of Scandinavia. When her eye falls upon the glacial erratics scattered across the Drenthe sand drifts, she recognizes in their history something of her own search for a sense of belonging. As messengers from distant places, bearing the traces of their journey on the outside while remaining almost untouched within, they reflect for her how a life of wandering continuously shapes who we are. In 'Gesturing Landscape', Sibylle Eimermacher invites visitors to listen to the landscape of glacial erratics and to become part of it: through the stones themselves, carrying the story of their journey, but also through birdsong, in which the stony landscape resonates. Through rhythm, tactility and stillness, she seeks to create a place where space opens up for a renewed relationship with the Earth. Alongside this sensory experience, quotations by writer and philosopher Joke Hermsen invite reflection on ‘longing for the familiar and yearning for the unknown.’ In addition, the granite objects by Finnish lapidary Johnny Juthman, carved from the same rock that reached Drenthe as glacial boulders, point back to their place of origin. They bear witness to the human desire to give shape to the world around us.