Nature’s Embrace

Sarah Schenk
Master of Architecture | University of Technology Sydney

“The landscape, a quiet embrace. Grounded in every moment, stability and safety, felt in a constant place.”

MATERIALS: Timber

Artist Statement

Growing up as a third culture kid, I have always found it difficult to talk about the concept of home. Born in the Netherlands, but raised in Switzerland, I was too Swiss to be Dutch, and too Dutch to be Swiss. This routed a deep insecurity in my identity, that made me believe I did not have a place to call home.

The feeling of belonging was fractured, and while I will always be at home when with my family, I was forced to find home in another way. Growing up in the mountains, I have countless memories of interacting with the landscape, and have come to realise that, for me, the concept of home is about the safety and stability I feel when isolated from the judgement and chaos of the world, immersed within the landscape. Home is about the constant.

Synopsis 

My internal feeling of home is reflective of my upbringing. Never feeling like I truly belonged where I was living, I found comfort in escaping the judgement of people around me by interacting with the landscape, isolated in the vast scenery.

My living belonging allows me to practice my concept of home in the process of making it. While I am extremely familiar and therefore comfortable with the extreme mountain scapes of Switzerland, I am yet to explore the range of landscapes present in Australia. Therefore, walking on Country, interacting with the landscape and acknowledging the various patterns and textures naturally present is the beginning steps in creating my proposed living belonging. Having the same feeling of safety and stability on my walk on Country as I do in the Swiss mountains proves that, for me, home is not a pin on a map, but rather a place of emotional security, a place where isolation provides comfort.

Transferring the patterns and textures I found in the landscape onto my living belonging shows the need I feel to be connected to the environment, and the way in which the feeling of safety is heightened when I do so. The idea that the rhythm of the landscape is a constant provides a stability in my idea of home that assures me there is always a familiar place I can go to, evoking a strong sense of comfortability.