Ros Meeker

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 14 June – 6 July 2013

Foyer space: Ros Meeker – Imagineering Metaphors 

 

In his book Highland Homecomings- Genealogy and Heritage Tourism in the Scottish Diaspora, anthropologist Paul Basu describes the imagined Caledonian landscapes, conceived by the children and grandchildren of Scottish migrants world over, as ‘imagineering’, and it is this idea of imagineering that has acted as both catalyst and author to much of Ros Meeker’s recent work.

This exhibition, Imagineering Metaphors, presents imagery born out of Meeker’s own reflections on discussions surrounding Basu’s idea of metaphorical logic. To Basu, trees and roots are root metaphors representing genealogy and the salmon is the route metaphor for the diaspora’s ancestral pilgrimages, as the salmon always ‘returns to the source’… Of course, in Tasmania the salmon do not return to the source.

Etched into steel, the Tasmanian Blue gum and the European Rowan leaves, sourced from Meeker’s own garden, act as her representations of home and the homeland.

 

Image: Ros Meeker, Salmon Imagineering, 2013, photopolymer etching, 54cm x 76cm.