Rian de Jong: NY NY:Right Before My Eyes

New York City is the backdrop and source of inspiration for Rian de Jong’s most recent work. de Jong spent much of the past two years living and working on board the boat on which she sailed from her native Amsterdam by way of Greenland. Docked at Liberty State Park, NJ, directly across from Manhattan, the boat has served as Rian’s studio, while the city has served as her “muse.”
“Every morning when I wake up, I see the New York skyline” says the artist. “I feel the energy in everything – the architecture, the streams of people, the size of the crane building the next skyscraper, the street vendors running from policemen. It is a sharp contrast to my time in Greenland where I saw nothing but space, rocks, mountains – no people or traffic. In my new work, I combine these two worlds. My Jewelry takes shape and grows slowly –like nature, and a city at the same time.”
Rian de Jong is a graduate of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam. Her work has been widely exhibited and collected by museums worldwide.