This variable relation between subject and object becomes particularly interesting when we encounter things philosopher Immanuel Kant calls “sublime”—vistas which are overwhelming, vast, occasionally terrifying, but nonetheless moving to behold. Mountains, canyons, and crashing seas are paradigm cases of grandeur that can shock us into feeling our own smallness. This kind of experience proved influential and inspiring for Holthoff, driving him not only to travel to some of the world’s most spectacular mountain ranges, forests and valleys, but also to probe his own encounters with the sublime through painting. His paintings depict realistic landscape features, but also abstract elements evoking experience and subjectivity.
— Robin Wilkins
