Judit Kis

Born 1988, lives and works between Budapest and Berlin.

Judit Kis is a Hungarian intermedia artist and researcher whose practice centers on the emotional architecture of the human condition. At the intersection of art, mental health, and spiritual inquiry, her work explores themes of vulnerability, resilience, and the transformative power of care, both self-directed and collective. Her tactile and symbolically rich practice invites viewers into contemplative encounters with the internal landscapes of emotion, trauma, and healing.

A defining element of Kis’s work is her use of sculptural forms—particularly her series of brick-shaped objects—that serve as poetic and material metaphors for both burden and support, boundaries and building blocks. Crafted from materials such as ceramic, marble, and semi-precious stones, and often engraved with charged words or phrases, these sculptures function as carriers of personal narrative and collective memory. Despite their shared form, each brick is unique in material and meaning, underlining the nuanced complexity of individual emotional experiences within shared structures.

Kis’s broader practice incorporates installation, text, drawing, and participatory performance. Her work often unfolds in response to specific environments and is deeply informed by an ethics of care and mutual empowerment. Engaging with subjects such as anxiety, grief, ecological precarity, and intergenerational trauma, she reframes emotional states not as weaknesses but as sources of strength and solidarity. Through this, her work aligns with a growing movement in contemporary art that challenges dominant narratives of productivity and perfection.

Her recent exhibitions reflect a growing international presence. These include solo exhibitions such as Surrender at Kahan Art Space (Budapest and Vienna) and Through the Cracks at Artus Contemporary Studio. She has also participated in important group exhibitions such as Queer Art Spaces at Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Handle with Care at Ludwig Museum Budapest, and La sustancia de la revelación in Mexico City. These platforms have amplified her voice within dialogues on mental well-being, queerness, and feminist care practices.

Kis has received numerous accolades for her work, including the Leopold Bloom Young Visual Artist Award (2020) and the Derkovits Art Grant (2019). Her dedication to research-based and community-rooted practices has also led to prestigious international residencies, including at MuseumsQuartier Vienna (Art & Ecology Residency), Residency Unlimited, and Artist Alliance Inc. in New York. In 2025, she returned to New York with the support of a research grant from the Ludwig Stiftung, deepening her exploration of the interconnections between psyche, body, material, and space.

In all her work, Judit Kis offers a quiet yet powerful resistance to dominant structures of alienation, championing instead a vision of art as a conduit for healing, reflection, and connection. Her sculptures, texts, and installations serve as both intimate confidants and collective mirrors, reminding us that transformation often begins where we are most tender.