Sentinel

Sentinel explores the intersection of landscape, materiality, and the liminal spaces between presence and absence—an encounter with the unknown. While offering a contemporary interpretation of tapestry, the work draws on the ancient tradition of weaving as a storytelling medium, allowing the landscape to transcend its photographic representation while intertwining memory, myth, and material.

The piece depicts a mythical figure standing before a gold mine dump in the Free State, South Africa—a solitary entity that appears to those who find themselves isolated in the wilderness. The figure emanates a sense of foreboding, as if serving as an omen or a messenger, signalling an impending reckoning. Sentinel evokes primal instincts, subconscious fears, and age-old narratives, exploring vulnerability on both physical and psychological levels within a magic realist landscape.

By incorporating photography, weaving, and installation, this work continues Meintjes’s exploration of textiles with natural and synthetic thread, pushing the medium beyond two-dimensional boundaries into the tactile realm. The cascading fibres suggest decay and renewal, reminiscent of erosion, overgrowth, or the slow unravelling of time.