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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
Chilean photographer and visual artist Jon Jacobsen works within the tension of the real and the fabricated in his digitally manipulated works. The artist has recently explored this with make-up artist Alex Box, dancer Jonathon Luke Baker, and director Nick Knight in a film created during his SHOWstudio residency. Their “Die Verwandlung” film "encompasses a fashion film, editorial and process imagery exploring metamorphosis and motion, informed by Jacobsen's interest in the dichotomy between digital and organic states.”
Self-taught photographer Jon Jacobsen creates portraits that feel like the stuff of beautiful nightmares. In fact, he operates on the idea that reality and fantasy might not be so far from each other as we think. His portraits and self-portraits reflect the fragility of human nature and many works echo the symbolic language and dark beauty of memento mori pieces. The colorful, swirling lines that emanate from his subjects seem to hint at another person or personality. What could look like a placid, somewhat Classical portrait becomes disturbing and distorted. It's hard to tell whether the subjects are rotting away or actually transforming into their true shape.