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’? Milena Naef is part of the M.A.R.S. collective (Maternal Artistic Research Studio). She is represented by Lumen Travo Gallery in Amsterdam, NL.

Geboren in Engen, DE, lebt in Freiburg im Breisgau.

2011–2016, BA in Art & Design, Gerrit Rietveld Academie Amsterdam, NL

2021–2024, BA Lehramt Sekundarstufe 1 (Kunst und Englisch), Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg, DE

2024–2026, MA Lehramt Sekundarstufe 1 (Kunst und Englisch), Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg, DE

2025, Förderpreis Bildende Kunst der Stadt Freiburg im Breisgau, DE

2022, Zweijähriges Atelierstipendium der Stadt Freiburg im Breisgau (mit dem M.A.R.S.-Kollektiv), DE

2019, Frans de Wit Prijs, NL

2016, Sybren Hellinge Kunstpreis, NL

2016, GRA Award Autonomous Art, NL

2023, Plots and Pieces, DOCK, Basel, CH

2022, Avoiding the Void, TI&M, Frankfurt, Zürich, Bern, DE / CH

2018, Fleeting Parts, Studio Oliver Gustav, Kopenhagen, DK

2015, Two Doormen, Galerie DITS, Amsterdam, NL

2026, MOVING MASS with Hannah Kindler, KiÖR Gutleutmatten, Freiburg, DE

2025, Ground/work 2025, Clark Art Institute, Williamstown (MA), USA

2025, Groups how, Lumen Travo Gallery Amsterdam, NL

2023, Mythen von Müttern und anderen Monstern, L6, Freiburg, DE

2022, MARBLE, Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg, DK

2021, JUNGKUNST, Winterthur, CH

2020, One Eye and Two Takes on Vulnerability, Lumen Travo Gallery, Amsterdam, NL

2018, Sculpting the Body, ad/ad - Project Space, Hannover, DE

2018, Prosecute my Posture, Garage Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL

2017, Mighty Process, Lumen Travo, Amsterdam, NL

2016, SELECTED, Looiersgracht 60, Amsterdam, NL

Studioaddress: E-Werk Freiburg Eschholzstraße 77

79106 Freiburg