Schlenker's works range from small objects to large-scale, spatial installations. A great source of inspiration for her work is travel, from which she always returns with photographs that enrich her image archive, which she uses as reference points for new ideas. Empty streets, buildings and landscapes dominate the photographs; they show building blocks, architectural details, façade textures and always leave it to the viewer to imagine the people who have stayed there.
She’s lived in Bangkok, Beirut and Rome and is drawn to the many stories that unfold every day in the houses and streets. In her studio, she brings together the energy of different places, encounters and picks out elements to translate them into her own urban landscapes.
Her curiosity for different views and perspectives is reflected in her interest in material research as well as testing the possibilities and limits of materials and techniques from ceramics to paper sculpting and working with building materials. She works at the intersection of architecture, design and art and likes to play with the perception of objects. Whether the works are sculptures or functional pieces is often left up to the viewer.
Education
Exhibitions
2016 - 2020
Gerrit Rietveld Academy,
DesignLab, Amsterdam
2022
2022
2009 - 2012
University of Passau,
Media and Communications
2022
2022
2022
London Design Festival, Mint Gallery, London (UK) (upcoming)
Talente 2022, München (DE)
Down to Earth, Shåk Gallery, Brussels (BE)
BIG, Rademakers Gallery, Amsterdam (NL)
The Sweet Enoughs, Rademakers Gallery, Amsterdam (NL)
Press
ELLE Decoration NL no.6/2021: Designers Update: Nadja Schlenker
Het Parool: Rietveld alumni tijdens corona
DAMN Magazine °77: Culture helps Beirut to regain hope
Het Parool: 4x bijzondere kunst bij de afstudeerexpo van de Gerrit Rietveld Academie
2021
AAF Hamburg (DE)
2021
Young Female Artists, Rademakers Gallery, Amsterdam (NL)
2021
Artwell Amsterdam (NL)
2021
Talente 2021, München - online
2020
See you again for the first time, next time - Collaging Beirut
Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam (NL)
2020
Shapeshifters, Amsterdam - online
2019
Don't Feed the Animals, Species of the Future,
Galerie Schau Fenster, Berlin (DE)
2018
Touch and Feel in an unreal World,
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (NL)
2014
Just Abstract, Eat Me Art, Bangkok (THA)