Plaag, oil on canvas, 20x25 cm, 2025 [SOLD]

Plaag was part of Jasmijn Doukje’s solo-exhibition in Rome at Spazio Box called Garden of Juvenile Fears. The work refers to the artists childhood fear of ladybugs, as she had an infestation of the little bugs in her bedroom growing up. The title of the work refers to this, as Plaag translates to Infestation in English.

Garden of Juvenile Fears is a reflection on childhood fears, once overwhelming, now strangely absurd. Inspired by a recent painting of the artist, and playing on Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights, the exhibition transforms personal anxieties into surreal, symbolic scenes.

Poppies represent the fear the artist had of losing her grandfather, kiwis recall a night of illness after eating seven, and ladybugs reference an infestation in her childhood bedroom as well as being a symbol against bullying. These symbols, once terrifying, now carry a kind of humor.

The works navigate the fine line between fear and absurdity, memory and myth. By reimagining these juvenile phobias, the exhibition becomes a playful yet sincere garden of imagined horrors, both intimate and universal.