Overview
Kristin Nordhøy's painstaking images, models of manual dexterity, operate on the boundary between stability and instability, finding harmony within the unrefined chaos of everyday life through a disciplined and methodical approach. Underpinned by an astonishing level of technical prowess, Nordhøy’s paintings and drawings speak of pragmatic mathematical interests, intense concentration, and meticulous detail.
 
Nordhøy copies, repeats and displaces elements. Strictly geometrical compositions reveal, on closer inspection, traces of intricate manual creation. Everything is fabricated by hand using paint, charcoal dust, pencils, pens, brushes, rollers and varying widths of masking tape. Subtle pigments are mixed together in the hope of discovering unexpected optical effects, at times, the artist does avail herself of brighter colours, which bring warmth and dynamism without being disruptive. Although she roughs out her compositions in preparatory sketches, the final decisions are only formally resolved in the making of the work, rendering the systematic exactness as illusory. 
 
“Repetition is at the core of Nordhøy’s practice. Again and again, in her charcoal works, she creates strict, yet playful patterns based on unruly black dust. The meticulous process of creating the soft-spoken, almost introverted drawings and paintings produces a clear tension: they contain a dizzying number of lines, yet emanate calmness.”¹ - Live Drønen (Innate Systems and Divulging Newness)
 
Paradoxically, the limits the artist imposes liberate her, freeing her up to create stark and poetic images. It is within this repetition and rhythm that the work induces a trance-like state, shutting out distractions to create a perceptually rich encounter with the present moment, where overlapping wave patterns ripple into a breathing, moiré effect that feels shifting and liquid.  
Works
  • Asphalt black No I / Resonant
    Asphalt black No I / Resonant, 2025
    oil on canvas
    82cm x 80cm (32" x 31")
  • Charcoal No II / Interlace
    Charcoal No II / Interlace, 2025
    charcoal and oil on linen
    120cm x 118cm (47" x 46")
  • Charcoal No IX / Resonant
    Charcoal No IX / Resonant, 2025
    charcoal and oil on linen
    82cm x 80cm (32" x 31")
  • Charcoal No XI / Resonant
    Charcoal No XI / Resonant , 2025
    charcoal and oil on linen
    175cm x 170cm (69” x 67”)
  • Orange B No III / Resonant
    Orange B No III / Resonant, 2025
    oil on canvas
    82cm x 80cm (32" x 31")
  • Transparent No IV
    Transparent No IV, 2025
    oil on linen
    82cm x 80cm (32" x 31")
  • Transparent No V
    Transparent No V, 2025
    oil on canvas
    82cm x 80cm (32" x 31")
Studio shots
Biography

Born in Oslo in 1977, Nordhøy studied at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, where she earned an MA in Visual Arts in 2006. Her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions throughout Europe and is held in public and private collections, including the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Pro Artibus Foundation, and the collection of Erling Neby.

 

EDUCATION
2006   Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Fine arts Major, Visual Arts
2004   Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Bachelor, Visual Arts

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025   'Returning & Turning', Galleri Riis, Oslo
2024   'Atonal', Galleri Riis, Oslo
2023   'Jangle', Ásmundarsalur, Reykjavík, Island
2022  

'Resonant Field', Cairn Gallery, Pittenweem, Scotland
2020  

'After a moment', Galleri Haaken, Oslo, Norway
2018   'Placed', Loock gallery, Berlin, Germany
2017   'Two/Fold', Galleri Haaken, Oslo, Norway
2016   Galleri LNM, Oslo, Norway
2012   'Layers', Holodeck, Oslo, Norway
2011   'Volt', Bergen, Norway
2010  

'Transparency', Lautom Contemporary, Oslo, Norway

 

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2026

  

Lillehammer Kunstmuseum

2024

  

'The Square’s Heart', from the Erling Neby Collection, KODE, Bergen

2020

  

133. Høstutstilling, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, Norway

2019

  

'Cutting Edges', The Collection of Erling Neby, Scandinavia House, New York

2018

  

Jubileumsutstilling LNM, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo

 

  

'Norsk Minimalisme?' Blomqvist, Oslo

2017

 

  

 Guest in Kjell Varvin ́s exhibition 'Fri geometri-ustabile variabler' at Kunstnernes

Hus

2016

  

'December exhibition på Ekely

 

  

'Theatre de l’absurde (Prequel)' Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam

 

  

'Living in Colours', Tenthaus, Oslo
2015   'Experiment i irritation', Artifice #2, Stockholm (Artifice Poster Magazine Exhibition)

 

COLLECTIONs

Norges Bank Art Collection

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Art Collection
Pro Artibus Foundation
New York Public Library
Erling Neby Collection
Astrup Fearnley Museum
The City of Oslo Art Collection
Telenor Art Collection
Equinor Art Programme