Everyday events, for instance at a kitchen table or in a bedroom, are transformed through a simple intervention into an imagined cosmos or landscape: two legs beneath a sheet become mountains (The day seemed to be clear but later a cloud conjured the sun away, 2000); a breath turns a small pile of sugar into a smoking volcano (Sugar, 2007). The solitary moon proves to be the reflection of a lightbulb in a cup of coffee (Play within play, 2013), and in Eye (2007) the perspective of a young man in love with his beloved becomes literally visible in the iris of his eye.

I am fascinated by how reality shifts depending on the gaze through which we look, and how imagination continually guides our interpretation. What happens when we try to see the world from another perspective? In this way, I invite the viewer to slow down, to zoom in, and to see the seemingly ordinary anew. By translating intimate moments into film and textile, I seek to make hidden worlds tangible and to question perception itself. I am interested in fleeting moments in which we perceive ‘something’ in ‘nothing’: visual whispers that enrich our understanding of the world.

show less

As a multimedia artist, Karhof combines photography, film, textiles, performance, and installation to explore the interplay between reality, imagination, and perception. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at Kunsthal KAdE (Amersfoort, NL), Museum Dr. Guislain (Ghent, BE), Kunstmuseum Bonn (DE), the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, US), and Youkobo Art Space (Tokyo, JP). She has participated in various artist residencies, including at the psychiatric ward of Kings County Hospital in New York (2016), which deepened her engagement with the fragile boundary between reality and perception.

Karhof’s accolades include the BNG Workspace Award (2012) for Inner Space / Outer Space, the Screengrab International New Media Arts Award (2013) for Vessel, and the FBZ Special Award (2022) for her monumental tapestry Reality is a Fingerprint. In her work, Karhof engages with shifts in perspective on reality. In her recent practice, Karhof extends her ongoing exploration of shifts in perspective on reality by bringing human and non-human viewpoints into dialogue, questioning how perception shapes our understanding of other species and our relationship to the world.

show less

2013 Screengrab International New Media Arts Award, Townsville, QLD, AU
2012 BNG Workspace Project Award, The Hague, NL
2007 Finalist, Unimovie International Competition, Rome, IT

Residencies
2016 Beautiful Distress Residency, Kings County Hospital, New York, US
2008 Artist Residency, USF Verftet, Bergen, NO
2007 Artist Research, Ogaki, JP (6 months)
2006 Jerusalem Visual Culture Association (JVCA) Residency, Jerusalem, IL

Solo exhibition
2019–2020 Reality, Beautiful Distress House, Amsterdam, NL
2018 “Reality is a fingerprint”, Francis Boeske Projects, Amsterdam, NL (presented during National GD Day)
2015–2016 Blue Hour, Bradwolff Projects, Amsterdam, NL
2014 Workspace, Sign, Groningen, NL
2012 Inner space/Outer space, Filmhuis Den Haag, The Hague, NL
2009 Mono No Aware, Christus Triumfatorkerk, (Church), The Hague, NL
2007 Defining mountains, A and A Gallery, Osaka, JP
2002 Lisca Bianca, W139, Amsterdam, NL
1999 Organic Connection, Artist-Run Space, Tweede Boomdwarsstraat 8h, Amsterdam, NL
1999 Incident, Artist-Run Space, Bickerstraat, Amsterdam, NL

Selected group exhibition
2025 
Forthcoming: Blue(ish), The Art of cyanotype, Opening of the new building of the Dutch Photo Museum, Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam, NL, curated by Guinevere Ras                        
De laatste ronde?, Beautiful Distress House, Amsterdam, NL
Film as Philosophy, Selected Film Theaters, NL, curated by film journalist Kevin Toma and philosopher Sabine Winters

2024                          
Slaap!, Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort, NL, curated by Judith van Meeuwen
Dreaming Workshop, Future Based,  workshop co-led with Nico Adelhöfer (postdoctoral researcher at the Donders Sleep and Memory Lab), curated by Victoria Li, hosted by Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort, NL
L6 OPEN, Loods6, Amsterdam, NL, curator by Emile Weisz 
Private Viewing: “Reality Is a Fingerprint,” Private Collection, Connecticut, US

2023                         
Sugar, Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam, NL (daily screenings, 1–18 October 2023, prior to Sweet Dreams)
Play Within a Play, and Rain, Sugar, Eye, Selected Movie Theaters, NL (over 100 screenings)         

2022 
Care Full, Art Utrecht (Art manifestation), Utrecht, NL, curated by Imke Ruigrok
FBZ Art Award Exhibition, Kleine Kunstdialog Foundation, Bochum, DE
Play Within a Play, Selected Venues, NL (via Eye Filmmuseum Filmpoule)
Rain, Selected Venues, NL (via Eye Filmmuseum Filmpoule)          

2021  
Sugar, Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam, NL (prior to Berg)
Live from the Rijks: 150 Years of Artistic Practice, Rijksakademie, Amsterdam, NL

2018
Zomergasten, Dr. Guislain Museum, Ghent, BE

2017
“Reality Is a Fingerprint,” Beautiful Distress Art Manifestation on Mental Illness, Nieuw Dakota/Francis Boeske Projects, Amsterdam, NL
“It’s Cloudy Inside”, Beautiful Distress Art Manifestation on Mental Illness, De School, Amsterdam, NL

2016 
Shortlisted LOOP Discovery Award, SP
Open Oost, Amsterdam, NL

2015                  
Play within play, Nashville Film Festival, Nashville, TN, US
Play within play, InScience Festival, Nijmegen, NL

2014
Donna E Liberta, Associazione Culturale Caffè letterario, Rome, IT
FEMINA International Women's Film Festival, Rio de Janeiro, BR
Braunschweig International Film Festival, Braunschweig, DE
Museumnacht Cinesonic, EYE Filmmuseum, Amsterdam, NL
Festarte, MAAM Museo dell’Altro e dell’Altrove, Rome, IT
Uitkijk Goes Short, De Uitkijk, Amsterdam, NL
Best of the Fest: Short Films from the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam, NL
International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), Spectrum Shorts 2014, Rotterdam, NL

2013
Videonale 14, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, DE
Inner space/Outer space, Concordia, Enschede, NL
KadS (Kunst aan de Schinkel), Soledad Senlle Art Foundation, Amsterdam, NL
Screengrab New Media Art Exhibition, eMerge Gallery, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, AU
HELD, Hollow Earth London, London, UK
Bonte Avond, Lloyd hotel, Amsterdam, NL
 

2012
People can only deal with the fantasy when they are ready for it, Museum De Paviljoens, Almere, NL
Inner space/Outer space, Filmhuis Den Haag, The Hague, NL

2011    
42–24h Off Screen, Fuoricampo Gallery, Siena, IT
Verzamelingen; Beeldende Kunst uit Acht Waterlandse Collecties, Museum Waterland, Purmerend, NL

2010     
Rood, Wereldmuseum (previously known as Tropenmuseum), Amsterdam, NL
Kwelgeesten, Art Route, Oostknollendam, NL
Huid, Corrosia!, Almere, NL
Radio Rood, Scarlet Woman, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, NL

2009    
Unknown Territory, Museum De Paviljoens, Almere, NL

2008    
Out of Everywhere, Filmbank Project Space, Amsterdam, NL
Belicht, Galerie De Expeditie, Amsterdam, NL

2007    
Troll Site Event, Youkobo Art Space, Tokyo, JP
Unimovie: Finalist of the International Competition of Unimovie 2007, Rome, IT
NMWA Festival, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, US
Celluloid/Digitaal 6: Tien Jaar Onderzoek & Ontwikkeling Filmfonds, Cinema De Balie, Amsterdam, NL
Verbonden Eeuwen, Edams Museum, Edam, NL
700IS Film Festival, Culture Centre of Fljótsdalshérað, Egilsstaðir, IS

2006    
Re:visie, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, NL
Fragile, Stedelijk Museum ‘s-Hertogenbosch, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, NL
Gædingarnir/Wonderchildren, Living Art Museum and Gallery 100°, Reykjavík, IS
Collapse, Impakt Festival, Utrecht, NL

2005    
Open Ateliers, Rijksacademy for Visual Arts (Rijksakademie), Amsterdam, NL
Arnhem Fashion Biennial, Arnhem, NL

2004    
Open Ateliers, Rijksacademy for Visual Arts (Rijksakademie), Amsterdam, NL
Mr. Motly, Veemvloer, Amsterdam, NL
Happy Chaos, Felix Meritis, Amsterdam, NL

2003    
Art Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL
DUAL (3), Consortium, Amsterdam, NL

2002    
The Crystal World, Outline, Amsterdam, NL
Conflusion, Meisei University, Tokyo, JP

2001    
Group Exhibition, Gallery Fons Welters, Amsterdam, NL
Plus e.V., Düsseldorf, DE
Scarlet Woman of Rembrandt, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, UK

2000    
Skylarking, Gallery Fons Welters, Amsterdam, NL
It Is Now, Consortium, Amsterdam, NL
I Am Just a Little Boy Looking for a Little Girl, Stroom HCBK Toussaintkade, The Hague, NL

1998    
Tijdelijke Openbaring van Ongevraagd Drukwerk en Andere Vormen van Artistieke Vrijgevigheid, Sandberg, Hoorn, NL, curated by Tinke Reijnders
Not Waving but Drowning, Artists Space, New York, US

show less