Janet Vollebregt

Janet Vollebregt (b. 1970) is a Dutch artist whose practice lies at the intersection of architecture, philosophy and sensory experience. Drawing on a technical architectural background and studies in Eastern and Western therapeutic traditions—particularly the Japanese healing art of Jin Shin Jyutsu—she creates interactive installations and spatial interventions that invite audiences to perceive subtle energy and cultivate embodied self-awareness.

Her nurturing, harmonising environments aim to reconnect viewers with the “invisible but sensible,” offering tools for grounding, reflection and a renewed sense of belonging. Since acquiring 22 hectares of land in Brazil in 2006, Vollebregt has developed an ongoing reforestation project and a series of immersive works that explore the energetic dimensions of place. Her practice has since been presented in museums, galleries and institutions internationally.

 

Selected solo exhibitions include Spirit House / Na simples e Suave Coisa, Suave, Coisa Nenhuma, Luis Maluf Art Gallery, São Paulo (2024); Esférica, Museu Nacional da República, Brasília (2022); Nurturing Space, Marksteeg 10 Gallery, Leiden (2019); and earlier solo presentations and installations developed in Brazil and the Netherlands. 

 

Selected group exhibitions include repeated participation at SP-Arte and Art Rio with Galeria Luis Maluf (2023–25), Radar (São Paulo, 2022–23), Imagine Intuition at Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden (2022), the group exhibition Helende Kracht / Healing Force at the Volkenkunde Museum, Leiden (2020), and a range of collaborative projects, performances and site works across Brazil and Europe. 

 

Highlights: long-term reforestation, sustainable-landscape and installation project O.Sítio on 22 ha in Chapada dos Veadeiros, Brazil (2006–present); development of sustainable/nurturing habitation projects in natural reserves in Chapada dos Veadeiros (2019–present); permanent work Fragments installed at the Thermen Museum Heerlen (2019); recipient of the Habitable Spaces Prize and Creative Industries Fund support for the Museu Nacional da República presentation (2022), and further Creative Industries Fund support for an installation at Butantan Park, São Paulo (2024).