naefmilena@gmail.com
Milena Naef (*1990) is a visual artist who works mainly with the materials marble and glass. As a fourth generation artist working with the medium of stone, the works reflect a search for her own positioning within the sculpting family and its tradition. She creates works that explore the physical and mental space of the human body, in which the body is sometimes visibly and sometimes invisibly present. The body functions as the material itself, questioning the duality between subject and object. Her work also explores the limits of possibility in stone as a material, challenging the traditional view of stone. Her glass works transfer drawings, often exploring urban space, and integrate new and uncontrollable crack lines through the firing process, loosening up and continuing the creative process.
I am fascinated by the thought that our bodies stand in a constant ‘choreography’ with their environment. Due to the inevitable presence of our bodies, I believe that we define ourselves through the constant interaction we are forced to have with our surroundings. Our own creations have allowed us to appropriate, to cultivate and to reflect upon the spaces we inhabit. The ability to shape and to manipulate materials impacts ourselves through the physical exploration in itself. I consider this interactive exploration as a reflection on ourselves as a material.
When do structures inhibit or liberate us and our physical form?
What is the consequence of the fact that our bodies are always ‘filling space’?
Upcoming / Ongoing Exhibitions
Summer 2025 - October 2026: Ground/work 2025, Clark Art Institute, Massachusetts (USA)
19.04. - 26.10.25: 15 Jahre - 15 Künstler, Fondation Kubach-Wilmsen, Bad Münster, DE
Exhibitions
2025 Groups how, Lumen Travo Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
2024 UNFAIR24, Gashouder, Amsterdam, NL
2024 Myths of Mothers and Other Monsters, Second Iteration, 8 Cubic Meters, Amsterdam, NL
2024 Steinbilder - Wasserbilder, Steinskulpturenmuseum Fondation Kubach-Wilmsen, Bad Münster, DE
2023 Körper, Steinskulpturenmuseum Fondation Kubach-Wilmsen, Bad Münster, DE
2023 Mythen von Müttern und anderen Monstern, L6, Freiburg, DE
2023 Plots and Pieces, Solo show at Dock Basel, CH
2022 Avoiding the Void, art@work (ti&m), Frankfurt, Zurich, Bern, Switzerland
2022 MARBLE, Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg, Denmark
2021 JUNGKUNST, Winterthur, Switzerland
2020 One eye and two takes on vulnerability, Lumen Travo, Amsterdam, NL - Duo show with Matea Bakula
2020 Art Rotterdam with Lumen Travo Gallery, NL
2020 Prospects & Concepts (Mondriaan Fonds), Art Rotterdam, NL
2019 Glass Generations 2019, Alter Hof Herding, Coesfeld/Lette, Germany
2019 New Horizons, Museum Jan van der Togt, Amstelveen, The Netherlands
2019 Balanceakte / Balancing Acts, Kunstverein Springhornhof, Neuenkirchen (Soltau), Germany
2019 Jonge Beelden, Beelden in Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands
2018 Sculpting the Body, ad/ad - Project Space, Hannover, Germany
2018 Prosecute my Posture, Garage Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL
2018 Studio Oliver Gustav, Copenhagen, Denmark, // Solo Show
2017 Kunst op de Koffie, Arnhem, NL
2017 Staging the Inhabitable, Theater 't Fijnhout, Amsterdam, NL
2017 Art4More Festival, Athens, Greece
2017 The principle of least effort, Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, NL
2017 Physical Space, SCHUIT, Utrecht, NL
2017 Amsterdam Art Fair with Lumen Travo, NL
2017 PLAYTIME at Kunstvlaai, Amsterdam, invited by Kunsthuis SYB, NL
2017 Mighty Process, Lumen Travo, Amsterdam, NL
2016 Kunst & Design Expo @ KNSM, SBK, Amsterdam, NL
2016 Selected by... Graduation show 2016, Corrosia, Almere, NL
2016 Sprouts II, SBK, Amsterdam, NL
2016 Nieuwe Oogst, Galerie Bart, Amsterdam, NL
2016 7e Sybren Hellinga Kunstprijs, Beetsterzwaag, NL
2016 Nieuwe Oogst, Galerie Bart, Nijmegen, NL
2016 SELECTED, Looiersgracht 60, Amsterdam, NL
2016 Graduation Show Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, NL
2016 Unannealed, Arti et Amicitae, Amsterdam, NL
2015 Two Doormen, DITS, Amsterdam (red light district), NL
2015 Wonder and Wander, De Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, NL
2014 Constant Companion, De Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, NL
2013 E*Cinema: 'Medical Experimentation', EYE Film Institute, Amsterdam, NL
Residencies
2016 'Uproot Rotterdam' Residency, Museumpark, Rotterdam
Prizes
2019 Frans de Wit Prijs
2016 7e Sybren Hellinga Kunstprijs
2016 GRA Award Autonomous Art
Education
2011 - 2016
Bachelor Degree in Arts in Art & Design, Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Stipends
Mondriaan Fonds: Werkbijdrage Jong Talent (from March 2018 - February 2019)
Media & Communication
Intro image by Bibi Altink