© Jessica Nap, Breakfast, from the series, extra normal, extra ordinary, 2020

From issue: #8 The Graduate Issue 2020

Jessica Nap (born 1995) is a Dutch photographer whose practice aims to seek out the extraordinary in everyday life. In Extra Normal, Extra Ordinary, Nap transforms her childhood home into a dreamworld reminiscent of Wonderland. ‘Being in this one place for a long time made me wonder if marvels can happen [here],’ Nap explains.  

© Jessica Nap, Breakfast, from the series, extra normal, extra ordinary, 2020
© Jessica Nap, the Kitchen Scene, from the series, extra normal, extra ordinary, 2020

The images show the results of embracing these musings, as Nap releases the full force of her imagination in her homely environs: floating pans, sculptures of tea cups, eruptions of pink foam from the bathroom sink. Nap playfully subverts the banality of her surroundings (a standard domestic scene that most people are familiar with), placing unremarkable objects into new, strange contexts. Her images are carefully constructed, with sharp, cold lighting and an almost-clinical sense of distance that recalls product photography, a juxtaposition that heightens the surrealism of the work. 

Jessica Nap graduated with a BA in photography from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. 

© Jessica Nap, Outlier, from the series, extra normal, extra ordinary, 2020
© Jessica Nap, Living in Bubbles, from the series, extra normal, extra ordinary, 2020
© Jessica Nap, Escapism from the series, extra normal, extra ordinary, 2020
© Jessica Nap, Cup of Tea, from the series, extra normal, extra ordinary, 2020

 

Learn more about this artist Read more Photography+

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