Homesickness. Searching for a way home through an image. a visual deconstruction of homesickness as a multilayered phenomenon

Abstract

The aim of this Master's thesis is to examine homesickness as a multilayered phenomenon, encompassing both physical and psychological aspects, individual and collective, as well as symbolic and material dimensions. It analyses how homesickness is constructed, shared and remembered. It develops a conceptual framework that leaves room for the creation of a personal emotional narrative. A key point of interest are photographs that can be treated as elements of distant homes. The visual language is seen here as a tool for processing and understanding homesickness, helping to find the way home. It is not about physical return, but about the search for emotional coherence, sensory familiarity and a sense of anchoring in a world where displacement – whether spatial, cultural or emotional – is present. The installation consists of individual layers containing images that overlap, blur, fragment, and disperse. This form refers to the idea of homesickness as a structure composed of elements of memory, image (also a digital one), and interpretation. The project encourages the viewer to reflect on the role of images in shaping emotional landscapes and asks how visual narratives can help us understand – and perhaps come to terms with – the feeling of being away from home. What does it mean to long for home?