Marit Westerhuis (Netherlands)
Marit Westerhuis is an Amsterdam-based artist with an MFA from the University of Applied Sciences in Groningen and a residency at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten. She creates kinetic installations that combine organic elements such as moss and water with industrial materials like steel and PVC. Using robotics, her works mimic natural movements, crafting immersive environments where nature and technology collide in unsettling ways.
Alongside her installation practice, Westerhuis conducts research at the intersection of speculative investigation, para-fiction, and nature-revenge narratives. Her recent project explores subjects such as vengeful crows, the death of a Lukoil CEO allegedly “killed” by a poisonous toad, liver divination, and the Russian shadow fleet. Combining archival research, ecological observation, and storytelling, she merges factual events with fictionalized narratives, creating a space where mythology, geopolitics, and animal agency intersect. Through these layered worlds, Westerhuis reflects on humanity’s pursuit of progress and its ecological consequences.
Recent exhibitions include presentations at Friche la Belle de Mai in Marseille (2024), Nieuw Dakota in Amsterdam (2023), and a solo exhibition at the Groninger Museum (2022).
The residency is funded thanks to financial support from the Mondriaan Fund.
