The work of Fiona Lutjenhuis (Zevenaar, NL, 1991) revolves around depicting and reinterpreting the religious ideologies she grew up with. During her childhood, she lived with her family in a village in North Brabant, where her parents joined a sect based on a mixture of theosophical ideas, esoteric cosmologies, stories about extraterrestrial life and the existence of supernatural life forms. Drawing on personal memories and archival material, she explores and transforms the ideological legacy of her childhood. Rather than a literal reconstruction, her work offers a poetic retelling: an attempt to make the unknown tangible, without the intention of judgement.
Fascinated by religious art, Lutjenhuis builds and paints folding screens as carriers of stories: mobile, vision-like paintings that function both sculpturally and narratively. She also bakes bread in various shapes, a ritual that makes her feel secure but also has religious connotations: bread is the symbol of life, sacrifice and providence. She also makes dolls that represent the entities that regularly appeared in the sect, whose visual language is borrowed from Eastern cultures. Other recurring elements in her presentations, which often resemble installations, are murals and wind chimes. The stories Lutjenhuis tells are full of references that touch the viewer on different levels. She also uses humour in her work, a component that has helped her to cope with her demagogic upbringing.
Lutjenhuis uses her unusual childhood to view contemporary discourse through a theosophical lens. In recent years, she has immersed herself in the archives of the sect she grew up with, as well as in the broader religious movements that have been blended or distorted in that group's ideology.
These are far removed from the Western world, which in its pursuit of rationality has distanced itself from nature. The individual reigns supreme: humans have placed themselves above all else, with the inevitable consequence of abusing the life around us. Lutjenhuis makes a plea for opening up our psyche, so that we can allow the magical elements of nature to enter and become part of our human actions. This is by no means in the context of proselytising: it is simply a matter of thinking in a deeper, more empathetic layer of consciousness.
Lutjenhuis's starting position is unique: the artist possesses a rare knowledge and lived experience of spiritual and supernatural thinking, framed by a self-taught, balanced, autonomous view of the world around her. Art is a gateway to another reality for her, offering her joy and new perspectives. She wants to offer this to her audience as well. With her art, Lutjenhuis takes the viewer into a world that makes the invisible visible.
Fiona Lutjenhuis lives and works in Amsterdam. She studied at ArtEZ University of the Arts, Arnhem (2010-2014) and was a resident at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam from 2022 to 2024. In 2024, she was nominated for the Scheffer Art Prize, in 2025 for the Prix de Rome and she won the NN Art Award in 2026. She has exhibited in various museums and project spaces, such as Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 1646, H3H Biennale, Drawing Centre Diepenheim, Noordbrabants Museum and Kunsthal Rotterdam.
Art Rotterdam 2026
For Art Rotterdam 2026, Fiona Lutjenhuis will present an installation in the booth combining pieces of furniture such as a bed, night stands and a mosquito net, with paintings, sculptures and soft toys. For this presentation, she deliberately chose a setting in which she feels safe and where she can retreat for a moment, even at an art fair. The imagery in the paintings is based on dreams that have stayed with her: a world between sleeping and waking, a place where she likes to be and where rules can be distorted. Once she wakes up, she is often disappointed that everything is once again governed by social, political and natural rules. Despite the fact that the artist has many nightmares, she also loves sleeping, because the world then feels more fluid, as a form of escape. You can find us in the New Art Section, booth K25. Fiona's sculpture Fake Fruits will also be on display at Sculpture Park. And we are very proud to share she has has been named the winner of the NN Art Award 2026. For the occasion her work is on display at Kunsthal Rotterdam, alongside that of the other three nominees: Tina Farifteh, Mandy Franca and Kyra Nijskens, from March 14 to May 25.
Sculpture Park, Art Rotterdam
Fake Fruits is inspired by the sandpit that used to stand in the artist’s back garden. It was often filled with rotten fruit and blossoms from the neighbours’ fruit trees. As a child, she played with them by arranging them. The botanical term “Fake Fruits” labels some types of fruit as false fruit because they develop partly from the flower rather than solely from the stem.
NN Art Award, Kunsthal Rotterdam, March 14 - May 25
The painted room dividers on show at the Kunsthal have a visionary quality. They refer to experiences from the artist’s childhood. The ten silhouettes on the reverse side of the green diptych *I Flourish Into Chaos* depicted the ten masters from other planets, known as the ‘Parliament’. These extraterrestrial beings spoke through a medium during the sect’s gatherings. The artist depicted them as Japanese Kokeshi dolls. Given that Eastern influences were very much present within their faith and the artist was a child at the time, it was precisely this type of toy that was chosen. The central figure on the front, the hawk, symbolised Ankhmania, the supreme leader of the ‘Parliament’ and bearer of the word. The Kokeshi-like figures at his feet embodied the cult members. In the room divider opposite, an all-seeing eye keeps watch over everything. The iris was a planet surrounded by stars. Planet Geza – 4 to be precise; the destination to which the cult members would travel when salvation came. Fiona Lutjenhuis often felt like the lonely figure in the floating room with the bird aviaries. Mentally locked up in a cage without bars.
Fiona Lutjenhuis (1991, Zevenaar, NL)
Education
—— BA Fine Art, ArtEZ Institute of the Arts, Arnhem, The Netherlands (2010 – 2014)
Prizes
NN Art Award 2026, nominated
Prix de Rome 2025, nominated
Scheffer Kunst Prijs 2024, nominated
Recidency
—— Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam (2022-2024)
Stipendia/scholarships
—— Mondriaan Fonds, Artist Basis 2025 - 2029
—— Van Bijleveltstichting, Fellowship (2023-2024)
—— Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds (2022-2023)
—— Corona Bridging Grant for Artists, Curators, Researchers (2021)
—— Young Talent Stipend Mondrian Fund (2018)
Collections
—— Noordbrabants Museum, Den Bosch
—— Centraal Museum Utrecht
—— Collectie Mondriaan Fonds
—— AkzoNobel Art Foundation
—— Museum Dordrecht, Dordrecht
—— Museum Krona, Uden
—— Museum Helmond, Helmond
—— Schunck Glaspaleis, Heerlen
—— Provinciehuis Gelderland, Arnhem
Publications
—— 'Sideways Universe', printed by Terry Bleu, Amsterdam, 2023 (self published in commision by Schunck, Heerlen)
—— 'TEMPLES FOR THE UNBELIEVABLE', published and printed by Terry Blue, Amsterdam (2021)
—— 'THE GOLDEN HOUR', graphic novel, (2021) (self published)
—— 'THE THREE MAN', graphic novel, (2017) (self published)
Murals
—— 'Church Wear', Open Studio’s, Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam (2023)
—— 'Sideways Universe', SCHUNCK Glaspaleis, Heerlen (2023-2025)
—— Nest/Down the Rabbit Hole, Lowlands site, Arcadia (2022-2023)
—— 'FUTURA FANTASTICA', Collaboration with Gijs Frieling, Provinciehuis, Arnhem (2021)
—— 'HEELS FOR WHEELS AND A CAN OPENER IN A CAN', Derde Wal, Muur voor Talent, Nijmegen (2020)
Exhibitions
—— Art Rotterdam, with Galerie Fleur & Wouter, solo (2026)
—— NN Art Award, Kunsthal, Rotterdam, group (2026)
—— Greige Fantastic, De Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam, group (2026)
—— Art Antwerp, with Galerie Fleur & Wouter, group (2025)
—— Prix de Rome, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2025)
—— Beyond These Walls I, AkzoNobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam, 2025
—— Opening exhibition new gallery space, Galerie Fleur & Wouter, Duo, Amsterdam, (2025)
—— Fiona Lutjenhuis, Noord Brabants Museum, Solo (2025)
—— 'A Deeper Shade of Soul', H3h Biënnale, Oosterhout (2025)
—— Refresh #3, Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam (2025)
—— 'Dauwpunt’, Drawing Centre Diepenheim (2025)
—— 'Mythes en Mogelijkheden', Het Huis Van Het Boek, Meermanno Museum, Den Haag (2025 - 2026)
—— 'Dutch Horizons', Schiphol Airport, Wink, (2025 - 2026)
—— ‘Ankhmania’, Solo Exhibition, 1646, Den Haag (2024)
—— ‘Het Museum van het Alsof’, 38CC, Delft (2024)
—— De Scheffer nominations, Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht (2024)
—— Open Studio’s, Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten (2024)
—— Unfair23, Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam (2023)
—— 'Aan de rand van de hemel: Visioenen', group show and commision, Museum Krona, Uden (2023)
—— 'Herbarium', Plaatsmaken, group exhibition Arnhem (2023)
—— Summerschool, VROOM, group exhibition Brussels (2023)
—— Open Studio’s, Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam (2023)
—— Pop-up exhibition LithoXXL, Nederlands steendrukmuseum, Valkenswaard (2022)
—— Editions, Unfair, Westergas Amsterdam (2022)
—— Outdoor installation, Hommelseweg Arnhem, commissioned by Plaatsmaken (2022)
—— Book Launch 'Temples For The Unbelievable', published by Terry Blue, Quintal Atelier, Offprint, Paris (2021)
—— Book Launch 'THE GOLDEN HOUR', Terry Bleu, Amsterdam (2021)
—— Book Launch 'THE GOLDEN HOUR', PARELS, Arnhem (2021)
—— Group exhibition 'To Riso Or Not’, TAC, Eindhoven (2021)
—— Group exhibition 'In Believe is Power', Expoplu (2020)
—— Prospects and Concepts, Art Rotterdam (2020)
—— Kunst op de koffie #5, Arnhem (2019)
—— Group exhibition 'FAITH MONEY LOVE', Arnhem (2017)
—— Group exhibition 'The Painted Bird, Dreams and Nightmares of Europe', Marres, Maastricht (2017) Short Residency
—— Herbarium, Plaatsmaken, Arnhem (2023)
—— Summerschool, VROOM, Brussels (2023)
—— Litho XXL, Make Eindhoven & Steendrukmuseum, Eindhoven Valkenswaard (2021)
—— Wobby Workout #1, Tilburg (2021)
—— To Riso Or Not, Wobby & Make Eindhoven (2020)
—— Artoll, Bedburg-Hau, Kleve, Germany (2013)
Other
—— Guest teacher Aki (ArtEZ), Enschede (2023)
—— Stadsarchief Amsterdam, tekenopdracht ‘Levensvatbare stad’ period Februari-August (2023)
—— Winterlab, Guest teacher ArtEZ, Zwolle (2021)
—— Illustrations Extra Extra Radio, in Collaboration with NTS Londen (2020-2022)
—— Arnhemse Nieuwe, presentation showroom Arnhem, Ontwerp Platform Arnhem and O-P-A, (2018)
Photography by Jhoeko, Peter Tijhuis, Bram Vreugdenhil, Rob Lipsius, Jonathan de Waart, We Document Art, Natascha Libbert, Cleo Goossens