Jaap de Jonge:“The body and the skin are carriers of memories. Marked, carved, tattooed. What is visible on the outside simultaneously conceals what lies deeper, namely, the dark and painful things that happened in the past. Away from the world, she lies huddled,holding herself, safe and protected. In layered video images, fire, branches, and loose chains intertwine. They are like inner landscape—symbols of destruction, yet also of resistance and the constant desire for liberation. The tattoos on her skin, such as the broken chain and the phoenix, represent liberation and victory over evil, symbols of protection. It confronts the viewer with how violence nestles in a body, how traumas are not only remembered but also embodied. The video installation moves between vulnerability and strength, between confinement and the desire to break free. What lies beneath the skin cannot easily be shaken off, but the power of "The mind is stronger." De Jonge, trained as a graphic designer, has developed into an independent artist over the years. He is best known as a media artist but has also completed many landmark art commissions in public spaces. In addition to the new work in Coal.2, attention is also given to other multifaceted aspects of his oeuvre.Always an adventure.
