In the summer of 2025, the upper galleries of Ruurlo Castle will transform into dioramas, nested rooms and cardboard crawl-through spaces. In the first solo museum exhibition by Jemima de Jonge (2001), we invite you to roam through surreal worlds where the boundaries between video, installation art, performance and theatre blur.
Alientation of the everyday
The tipping point is a key aspect in De Jonge’s immersive work: when does something pleasant become unsettling? When does amusement turn to tragedy, or a sense of safety give way to a precarious situation? Drawing on her interest in the human mind, De Jonge explores both the enchantment and alienation of the everyday. Desire, nostalgia, shock reactions, compulsive behaviour, paranoia: a wide spectrum of human emotions and behaviours finds expression in her work.
Like a lucid dream
De Jonge’s work feels like a lucid dream, like the moment between waking and sleeping, or the transition from darkness to light. She places you in an in-between world, where you are guided more by sensation than by action. De Jonge plays with scale and perspective, making you feel both immense and miniscule at the same time.
Spaces between art forms
Like the Expressionist filmmakers Robert Wiene and Fritz Lang, and multidisciplinary artists such as Michel Gondry, William Kentridge and Mika Rottenberg, De Jonge explores the spaces between art forms. The way she convincingly takes on multiple lead roles in her own work is reminiscent of Cindy Sherman. With sets, miniatures and green screens, De Jonge creates a reality that deviates, yet still convinces. She builds tension with almost nothing, revealing a finely tuned sense of timing and editing. In the presence of De Jonge’s work, you become aware of yourself, and your own unease. Something feels off… but what?
The recurring playfulness in all of my work stems from a desire to escape into both darkness and light. I use imagery to unite these opposites; a staircase represents both a beginning and an end.
- Jemima de Jonge
About Jemima de Jonge
Jemima de Jonge graduated with honours from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague in 2023. In her burgeoning career as an artist, she has already received several awards: the Jan Roëde Award, the Ron Mandos Residency Award and, most recently, the Sacha Tanja Penning. Her work Enter Amazons was named the most surprising film at the Eye ResearchLabs in 2022. That same year, Eye also selected her as one of its Badlands film talents.
