The Arches @ Aberfoyle
Now on show at the Arches
"As for me" by Gillian Roselli
Gillian Rosselli (b. 1962, Masvingo) is widely recognised as a significant voice in Zimbabwean contemporary painting, most recently representing the country at the Venice Biennale in 2024. Based between Harare and Vienna, her practice moves between figuration and abstraction, shaped by an acute sensitivity to memory, place, and the conditions in which both are formed. The Arches @ Aberfoyle is honoured to present her work, and to welcome her as the first artist to undertake a residency with the gallery. A major work from her Biennale presentation is included here both in recognition of this achievement and as a point of connection to a broader world beyond the valley.
This exhibition emerges from a period of sustained work in Honde Valley, Eastern Zimbabwe. Rather than arriving with a predetermined body of work, Rosselli entered the landscape with an openness to respond – to stay, to observe, and to work within the conditions of the place over time. The resulting paintings are not illustrations of that experience, but responses formed through it. They reflect a process in which perception shifts gradually, shaped less by singular events than by duration, repetition, and attention.
Rosselli’s practice is characterised by an impulse-led approach to abstraction. Colour, atmosphere, and gesture operate as carriers of experience, rather than descriptions of it. In this body of work, surfaces accumulate through layered mark-making, where no single gesture dominates the surface. Instead, the paintings unfold as fields of activity – spaces in which memory, sensation, and reflection are held in suspension. What emerges is not a fixed image of place, but a record of time spent within it.
Alongside the paintings, a series of smaller works functions as a kind of visual diary. These are not literal records, but traces – moments of attention captured through a daily practice of drawing. Through repetition and return, they suggest a gradual loosening of fixed perception, allowing other forms of awareness to surface. In this way, the work moves beyond the idea of journey as movement across space, and toward an understanding of experience shaped through staying.
The viewer is invited into this condition. There is no singular point of entry, no prescribed narrative to follow. Instead, the works ask for a different kind of engagement – one grounded in looking, in duration, and in a willingness to encounter what does not immediately resolve. Meaning here does not announce itself; it accumulates slowly, through attention.
As for me presents a body of work that is at once immediate and unresolved. It offers not a conclusion, but a space in which experience continues to unfold – where the relationship between place, memory, and perception remains open, and where, at its centre, is presence.
Greg Shaw
(Curator, The Arches @ Aberfoyle)
As you arrive at Aberfoyle Lodge you will be greeted by the stunning Arches@Aberfoyle. This building is expertly designed by a leading Zimbabwean architect. The building boasts an incredible panoramic view of the golf course and surrounding mountains from its deck.
Officially opened in November 2021, the Arches@Aberfoyle is available to host events such as conferences, weddings, art exhibitions and other functions.
The state-of-the-art board room with a view of the beautiful gardens is furnished with a locally made wooden table and chairs and a large TV screen. It is available to host strategic planning meetings, executive board meetings or conferences. This space fits up to 15 people comfortably.
The largest hall space of the venue will be available for larger group conferences, launch events or weddings. A microphone and in-built sound system are available as well as a large TV screen in the hall space, perfect for presentations.
If you would like a slightly less formal environment, the large deck overlooking Aberfoyle Lodge golf course is a lovely meeting space. Alternatively, this space makes for a wonderful break within your day of meetings, where teas and refreshments are served.
