My practice departs from existing objects and symbols that relate directly to the real world. These objects already contain meaning: as functional objects, images, and as part of systems of recognition and value. By collecting, rearranging and reconstructing them, a play emerges between what already exists and the ideas embedded within it. I rarely work from entirely new or abstract forms. The reality of existing objects is essential to me precisely because they are already charged with context. Within the work, meanings are not resolved, but displaced, disrupted or reread. The installations develop intuitively and search for a precise balance between sharpness and ambiguity. They are direct in their image, yet remain open in interpretation: recognisable, but never fully fixed. My work positions itself in relation to engaged art, but approaches engagement as something unstable. Seriousness, doubt and self-awareness exist alongside one another without cancelling each other out. In my most recent work, I investigate how engagement, self-presentation and performativity are becoming increasingly difficult to separate today.





Education

2023–2026
BA Fine Art, Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht (HKU), Utrecht (NL)

2022–2023
Propedeuse Image Media Technology, Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht (HKU), Utrecht (NL)


Projects
2026
Acting for movie / performance Rijksakademie open studio for abdo zin eldin


2025–2026
Vuurkorf, Gallery project

2024
Artistic assistant, Honours programme De kunst van het loslaten, The Hague / Leiden University of Applied Sciences (NL)


Selected exhibitions

2026
O Solitude, AG Academie Galerie, group exhibition with HKU Fine Art & Folkert de Jong (AIR Pastoe residency), Utrecht (NL)

2024
Rumble, AG Academiegalerie, Utrecht (NL)

2024
Umwelt, Schietbaan, Amsterdam (NL)

2023
WELCOME HOME, WE HAVE BEEN WAITING, Jan Pieterszoon Coenstraat, Utrecht (NL)




























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Job Ketelaar
b. 2002, Utrecht (NL)
Lives and works in Utrecht (NL)
0654992052
ketelaarjob@gmail.com