Nick Lenker

Nick Lenker works on a white ceramics piece of a subject on a bike holding a gun in his studio
Faculty

Nick Lenker has more than 20 years’ experience working in ceramics. He has developed a process all his own, utilizing a combination of analog and digital techniques and exploring the possibilities of new ceramic decal technology.

Biography

“I approach new media based content from a craft-based perspective. I explore ideas of embodiment/disembodiment when interacting with virtual spaces. How do avatars (within video games and social media) affect our identity in the physical world? I aim to understand this connection between form and image through ceramics, digitally manipulated images, installation and animation.”

Nick Lenker holds an MFA from Tyler School of Art at Temple University and a BFA from University of the Arts with a Ceramics focus. He recently completed a residency at the Clay Studio in Philadelphia (2016–2021). In 2019, Lenker completed the courtyard commission for Project HOME’s most recent project, the Gloria Casarez Residence (an LGBT-focused homelessness-prevention project). In 2020, Lenker had a solo exhibition at the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum. He was included in the international exhibition of ceramic art for Art Macau in Macau, China, as well as in the Korean International Ceramics Biennale, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, in 2021. Lenker’s work is included in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Alfred University’s Alfred Ceramic Art Museum, New York, as well as in numerous private collections.

Experience

  • Lenker has taught ceramics as an adjunct professor at Tyler School of Art, Moore College of Art and Design, and University of the Arts, all in Philadelphia.

  • He has been a speaker at Alfred University, New York; School of the Art Institute of Chicago; and Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, among other institutions.

Work 

Visit Nick Lenker’s website.

A ceramic bouquet that looks like paper with orange blossoms and a metallic wrap around the stems
Nick Lenker, “Bouquet”
A ceramic sculpture that looks like paper construction of Cain and Abel in which one man is laying down and the other stands over him menacingly
Nick Lenker, “Cain and Abel”


Awards & Accolades

  • Lenker has been nominated for a Pew Fellowship and a USA Artists Fellowship. 

  • In 2019, he was selected as an NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) Emerging Artist. 

  • Lenker’s work is in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Alfred Ceramic Art Museum, Alfred University, New York.

  • His work was featured in the Korean International Ceramics Biennale, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, 2021.