Biography

Karin Janssen (b. 1980, Netherlands) is a Dutch visual artist based in the Netherlands. Working primarily with gouache, pencil and ink on paper, she also creates sculpture and immersive VR experiences. Her work connects human psychology with our evolving relationship with the natural world. Roaring mouths, wild animals, and creeping vegetation appear as recurring motifs, reflecting states of transformation, tension, and instinct. Shaped by years of travel and living abroad, as well as her Dutch-Indonesian heritage, her visual language absorbed influences ranging from Brazilian street art, Taiwanese temples, Indonesian culture, the jungles of South America and the coral reefs of Asia.

Driven by a fascination with the psychological forces beneath everyday behavior, and how we relate to nature in the face of climate change, Janssen uses art to explore the dynamics between the inner self and the environment. Her sculptural and VR works emerge from the worlds she builds on paper, expanding them into physical and immersive spaces.

Her work has been exhibited internationally, with solo exhibitions including Escape to Solastalgia at New Taipei City Arts Center (2021) and Extraordinary Machine at Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab, C-LAB (2020). Since 2021, she has been developing Project Resurrection, a large-scale artistic initiative using underwater sculpture and virtual reality to support coral reef restoration in Taiwan.

Janssen studied at AKV St. Joost in the Netherlands, completed a residency in Brazil, and has led community-based projects across South America. When living in London, she founded Karin Janssen Project Space, a gallery for independent exhibitions featuring both emerging and established artists. Moving to Shanghai and then Taiwan, her work has been featured on Taiwanese national television and in international publications including Wall Street International, The Art Newspaper, The Culture Trip, and East End Review. She currently resided again in her home country the Netherlands.