Through Fractured Forms, Kat Kristof Renders the Architecture of the Mind

As we spend much of our lives online and find ourselves ensnared in an increasingly dystopian reality, glitches and fractures seem all the more apt in rendering the contemporary mind. Kat Kristof (previously) attends to this disjointed—and even duplicitous—feeling in her vivid portraiture. Visible brushstrokes invoke gestures past and the memories that scaffold our lives, while layered patches build upon one another, forming complex structures within each piece.

“My work explores the architecture of the mind. These are scattered, fragmented, and riotous projections of self,” Kristof says, referring to her latest body of work, Exhale. Co-presented by BEERS London and Saatchi Gallery, the exhibition plumbs the artist’s formal training in architecture, which she undertook in her native Hungary before moving to Folkestone, Kent. Likening the abstract shapes that form a face or torso to a hallway or room, the artist invites viewers into the intimate interiors of her subjects.

a glitched painted portrait by Kat Kristof on a pink background with a woman in white in fragments — “Doubt I” (2025), oil on canvas, 180 x 180 centimeters

While each portrait contains some level of psychological distortion, Kristof expands and contracts their surreal qualities. “Echo,” for example, features a mirrored subject looking directly at the viewer, although the figure on the right peers out from a face turned upside down. The gltich in “Alone” is much more jarring, as two faces stare at each other through a central stripe bisecting the work.

For Kristof, there’s endless space for our minds to break into new territories, although like the walls that protect our homes, there are barriers we have to cross to step outside ourselves. “What we long for remains elusive, not because it doesn’t exist, but because we carry our mindset with us,” she adds.

Exhale runs from October 23 to November 16 at Saatchi Gallery in London. Find more from Kristof on her website and Instagram.

a glitched painted portrait by Kat Kristof on a purple background. the glitch reveals two faces looking at each other in the middle of a singular form — “Alone” (2025), oil on canvas, 125 x 145 centimeters

a glitched painted portrait by Kat Kristof on a pink background. the women's body appears fragmented on a central line — “Drift” (2025), oil on canvas, 220 x 175 centimeters

a glitched painted portrait by Kat Kristof on a red background. the woman's cheeks are doubled — “Blur” (2025), oil on board, 80 x 60 centimeters

a glitched painted portrait by Kat Kristof on a beige background. the woman's head appears to bend backward — “Breathe” (2025), oil on canvas, 220 x 115 centimeters

a glitched painted portrait by Kat Kristof on an olive background with the subject's face appearing to glitch upward on the right — “Crave” (2025), oil on canvas, 150 x 100 centimeters

a glitched painted portrait by Kat Kristof on a rust backdrop. the figure's mouth is cut open — “Exhale” (2025), oil on canvas, 170 x 145 centimeters

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Through Fractured Forms, Kat Kristof Renders the Architecture of the Mind appeared first on Colossal.