ABOUT
Nadia Valeska is a German/New Zealand artist based in Berlin working primarily in figurative painting.
Her work often begins with photographs from private and family archives, which she reworks through processes of cropping, layering, and fragmentation. Moving between presence and dissolution, her paintings explore memory as something unstable, emotional, and continually reconstructed.
Through gestures, postures, and partially obscured figures, her work investigates states of intimacy, uncertainty, and psychological tension. More recent works incorporate heightened colour relationships that shift archival imagery away from nostalgia and towards a contemporary painterly language.
EDUCATION
2010-14 - Study of Fine Arts, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain (BFA & MFA (Licenciatura))
2014 - Scholarship to study abroad, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Santiago, Chile
2012-13 - Scholarship to study abroad, Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, Florence, Italy
2009/10 - Study of Fine Arts, ELAM School of Fine Art, Auckland, New Zealand
SCHOLARSHIPS, AWARDS & RESIDENCIES
2026 Nominated for EigenArt Kunstpreis, Bremervörde
Nominated for STRABAG ArtAward, Austria
Artist in Residence Künstlerstadt Gmünd, Austria
2024 Nominated for STRABAG ArtAward, Austria
2020 Scholarship Kulturprojekte, Berlin
2019 Heise Art Prize, Dessau
2014 Scholarship Santander Iberoamérica Promoe for Santiago de Chile
2012/13 Erasmus Florence
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 The Weight of Heirlooms: Visual Narratives of Turbulent Times. Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
In Times of Trouble: From the Collective to the Individual. Pūmanawa Gallery, Arts Centre, Christchurch, New Zealand
2022 Reunion: Berlin Wall / Fiksate Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand
2020 we are all a number. diekleinegalerie, Berlin
2015 Cualquier Instante Dado. Artimania, Madrid, Spain
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)
2026 Affordable Art Fair Berlin (Galerie Z22)
LUXUS. Galerie Z22, Berlin
Kunst Mitte Karlsruhe
Alles Was Ihr Wollt. Galerie Z22, Berlin
A Culture Of Peace, Pūmanawa Gallery, Art Centre, Christchurch
2025 Jahresgaben 2025/26, Kunstverein Ludwigshafen
Affordable Art Fair Hamburg (Galerie Z22)
Z22 Goes Bikini Teil II. Galerie Z22 in Collaboration with Contemporary Showroom, Berlin
Lebenslinien & Farbfelder. Galerie C&B Reichert, Berlin
Ansichtsachen. 48 H Neukölln, Berlin
Summer exhibition. Stiftung Starke, Berlin
Future Icons. Gewölbekeller, Berlin
2024 Erotic Jungle. Galerie Z22, Berlin
15. Biennale de la Habana, Cuba
Versuchung. Werketage, Berlin
Juntos : Gemeinsam. Galerie Auto & Art, Berlin
Small Works Art Prize. Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2023 You Better Bring Me Joy. Atelierhof Kreuzberg, Berlin
The Christchurch Art Show. Christchurch, New Zealand
It´s Not About You. Eastside Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand
2022 Fifty Squared Art Prize. Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
Nacht & Tag in den Gerichtshöfen, Berlin
Mask Wise. Mastul Kunst- und Kulturverein, Berlin
2021 20. Kultursalon, Forum Factory, Berlin
Heimat. Projektraum Jülicher30, Berlin
Time Without Time. Triennale Grenchen, Switzerland
Bilder vom Menschen. diekleinegalerie, Berlin
2020 Sowohl als auch... K-Salon, Berlin
Blick Fang. Kunsthaus Kaufbeuren, Bavaria
2019 Exhibition for the 12th Heise Art Prize. Dessau
ARTMUC. Munich
2018 Art Spring Central. Museum Pankow, Berlin
2016 Exhibition for the EB Dietzsch Art Prize. Volksbank eG, Gera
2014 Proyectos en Pintura. Galeria Madhouse, Santiago de Chile
2013 8. Biennale international Printmaking Prize, Museo di Arte Contemporanea e del
Novecento (MAC ́N), Tuscany, Italy
2009 Art Traces. Projectspace B431, Auckland, New Zealand
WORKS IN COLLECTION
Museo di Arte Contemporanea e del Novecento (MAC N), Tuscany, Italy
Accademia di Belle Arti, Florence, Italy
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2015 Any given Name, Atelier #3, The Lighting Mind, Spain