in short
In his works, Jonathan De Maeyer explores the relationship between the environment and living beings. Observation and documentation play an important role in this process. For Lichtensteig, the Belgian artist designed an imaginary walking tour that leads visitors to a place where they can pick thyme. The focus is not on reaching a destination, but on mindfully experiencing the journey. The work includes a signpost, a light- and weather-sensitive information board, a ritual, and a bag for collecting herbs.
work
THYMIAN (2026)
During his daily walks in Toggenburg, Jonathan De Maeyer built up a photographic archive. The idea of “assemblage”—temporary, ever-changing encounters between species—served as an important starting point. His photographs and drawings depict these intersections. To develop his photographs, Jonathan De Maeyer uses a natural process that incorporates regional, hand-picked thyme. By using local herbs, the landscape itself becomes actively involved in the creative process. In this way, Jonathan De Maeyer hands over some control of his work to the herbs, giving the work an autonomous dimension. This process has resulted in maps that invite a different way of seeing: attentive, relational, and in harmony with a living, ever-changing world.
For Lichtensteig, Jonathan De Maeyer is developing a new “hiking infrastructure” consisting of an information panel and a signpost. The work includes a signpost, a light- and weather-sensitive information board, a ritual, and a bag for collecting herbs. The panel consists of a four-layer UV print on Plexiglas that combines various map layers. Due to the material’s transparency, the image remains sensitive to light, weather, and the surrounding environment. The signpost points the way to “THYMIAN,” a place where thyme can be picked, and includes a short text describing a specially designed ritual. A picking bag is also attached to the structure, which visitors can use to collect thyme. The focus of the path is not on reaching a destination, but on mindfully experiencing the journey.
artist
Jonathan De Maeyer
Jonathan De Maeyer (b. 1994, BE) explores his relationship with the landscape in a variety of ways. He seeks to understand the landscape by becoming part of it – through observation and documentation from within it. In his work, he addresses themes such as ecology, food and agriculture, as well as (non-)human relationships and the perception of the environment. Through fictional and documentary approaches that question the human perspective, as well as through the use of various media – often starting with the image – he seeks in his work to explore and articulate the complexity and reality of the living world.