{"id":1145218,"date":"2026-08-12T23:37:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T23:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1145218\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T23:37:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T23:37:26","slug":"suzanne-jongmans-recycles-everyday-materials-for-elegant-renaissance-style-portraits-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1145218\/","title":{"rendered":"Suzanne Jongmans Recycles Everyday Materials for Elegant Renaissance-Style Portraits \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"

From materials we normally discard like padded packaging or the mesh sleeves that protect fruit from bruising, Suzanne Jongmans<\/a> summons elegant and dreamlike Renaissance portraits<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The artist drapes models in lush velvet fabrics and typically positions them against deep backgrounds in the vein of Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s \u201cLady with an Ermine\u201d (1489-91) or Antonello da Messina\u2019s \u201cPortrait of a Young Man\u201d (c. 1470). The settings and the addition of fine garments contrast found plastic detritus with hints of refinement and the figures\u2019 dignified postures, mirroring the solemn, pious expressions of individuals in Renaissance portraiture<\/a>. Recently, she has also incorporated copper coils extracted from the electric motors of disused household appliances and fuses.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cIn Resonance,\u201d inkjet print on Hahnem\u00fchle paper, edition of 10 + 2 A.P., 84 x 90.5 centimeters<\/p>\n

Jongmans infuses her works with nods to gender roles and issues that still raise the hackles of \u201cpolite society,\u201d such as breastfeeding in public. The artist seamlessly ties a centuries-old aesthetic to salient contemporary concerns, exploring femininity, individuality, and the nature of concealment. Through the latter especially, she delves into the human capacity for wonder and its significance at a time when technology, the gears of so-called progress, and revisionism<\/a> endanger our connections to the natural world, our histories, and one another.<\/p>\n

The artist describes her approach as an exploration of the space between the material and the immaterial world, one where society, eras, emotions, and cosmic forces converge. \u201cSince the Enlightenment, reason has been glorified and the Western tendency towards a drive for modernization and mechanization has increased,\u201d Jongmans says in a statement. \u201cThe significance of myths and imagination in our daily lives seems to have been lost or at least faded into the background.\u201d<\/p>\n

By exploring the past, Jongmans creates exquisitely contemporary compositions, prompting us to consider the meaning of value and how it is assigned. The works are also sensitive, introspective meditations on human feeling, and she has even occasionally turned the camera on herself. \u201cIn the Midst of It All,\u201d for example, is a self-portrait taken during the pandemic that serves as a reminder to slow down, rest, and reconnect not only with the surrounding environment but with oneself.<\/p>\n

See more on Jongmans\u2019 Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cIn the midst of it all,\u201d inkjet print on Hahnem\u00fchle paper, 44 x 60 centimeters<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cKindred Spirits \u2013 Present,\u201d inkjet print on Hahnem\u00fchle paper, edition of 8 + 2 AP, 75 x 95 centimeters<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cLifting the Veils,\u201d inkjet print on Hahnem\u00fchle paper, edition of 8 + 2 A.P., 75 x 68 centimeters<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cGuidance\u201d (2024), inkjet print on Hahnem\u00fchle paper, edition of 10 + 2 A.P., 95 x 75 centimeters<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cBrotherhood,\u201d inkjet print on Hahnem\u00fchle paper, edition of 8 + 2 A.P., 87 x 87 centimeters<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cValentino blue,\u201d inkjet print on Hahnem\u00fchle paper<\/p>\n

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