Independent | Ina Gerken & Nabilah Nordin

Left: Ina Gerken, Rose Moon (2026). Center: Nabilah Nordin, Chariot (2025). Right: Ina Gerken, Still Room (2026).

RYAN LEE Gallery is pleased to present a new series of paintings by Ina Gerken (b. 1987, Speyer, Germany) and sculptures by Nabilah Nordin (b. 1991, Singapore).

Gerken’s abstract works—employing translucent washes of gouache, bold lines, and cascading drips of paint—arise from the artist’s free, expressive studio practice. Gerken’s paintings are loose and layered, yet they coalesce into harmonious compositions that pulse with textural rhythm. Her sensitive approach to color adds to the paintings’ atmospheric energy.

Gerken’s use of silk paper in her paintings recalls her monotype practice, in which she paints on large sheets of paper and prints them onto canvas. Sometimes, pieces of paper accidentally remain on the surface, and with time, she developed a process that used this technique with intent. When the painting is dense, the white paper pieces create pauses, moments to breathe. They add a physical presence that contrasts with the more fluid, thinner layers of paint.

Ina Gerken

Ina Gerken In the Studio, March 2026.

“When I start a painting, I have neither a plan nor a concept or an idea of what it should look like in the end. The act of painting is like a dialogue between me and the work,” Gerken says. “The painting is both a snapshot—a frozen moment in time—and a memory, with its layers containing actions, reactions, and discoveries.”

Like drawings in space, Nordin’s abstract sculptures embrace sinuous lines and rugged finishes. These twisted forms—in shades of gray, umber, and rusty red—give the effect of material that has been worn by time and nature. Unruly and energetic, Nordin’s calligraphic lines interlace with voluminous masses to create dense configurations.

Beginning by welding steel armatures, Nordin exaggerates the physicality of her forms so that they seem to defy gravity, teetering on the edge of collapse and multiplying uncontrollably. The surfaces of her sculptures are subjected to an expansive range of treatments, producing contradictory visual logics, like knotted marble or convulsing cement.

“I need my work to be in a state of slipperiness—in meaning, form and materiality,” Nordin says. “The sculptures function as sites of performance, often acting as artifacts and replicating the life cycles of natural phenomena and industrial processes.”

Ina Gerken (b. 1987, Speyer, Germany) is a painter whose process-based practice is rooted in intuition and spontaneity. Gerken has enjoyed prominent residencies around the world. In 2025, she received an International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) residency. In 2023, she was awarded the prestigious Pollock- Krasner Grant and in 2022, she was selected for the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture’s artist residency program. She has also participated in residencies with the Fores Project, UK (2021) and The Cabin LA, CA (2019), and has received grants from the Stiftung Kunstfonds, Germany (2024); Lepsien Art Foundation, Germany (2017); and the Fine Art Collective of Frankfurt, Germany (2016); among others.

Gerken’s paintings were recently featured alongside those of Helen Frankenthaler in the exhibition Frankenthaler moves Jenny Brosinski, Ina Gerken, Adrian Schiess at the Museum Reinhard Ernst in Wiesbaden, Germany. Her work has been exhibited at museums and galleries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, including Kopfermann Fuhrmann Stiftung, Düsseldorf, Germany (2025); Makasiini Contemporary, Turku, Finland (2024); Logomo, Turku, Finland (2023); Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas, TX (2023); Stiftelsen Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Vestfossen, Norway (2022); and Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany (2020); among others.

Gerken’s work is held in the collections of Kunsthaus NRW Kornelimünster, Germany; Museu Inimá de Paula, Brazil; Museum Reinhard Ernst, Germany; and OP ENHEIM Collection, Poland; as well as private collections across the globe.

Nabilah Nordin (b. 1991, Singapore) uses her materially driven practice to explore the formal possibilities and surface potential of sculpture. Nordin has exhibited at museums, biennales and galleries across Australia, Asia and the USA. She has held solo exhibitions at Neon Parc Brunswick, Australia (2025); Parrasch Heijnen, CA (2024); the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia (2023); the Australian Embassy, DC (2023); National Gallery of Victoria, Australia (2023); Heide Museum of Modern Art, Australia (2021); Changwon Sculpture Biennale, South Korea (2020); and Singapore Biennale, Singapore (2019); among others. Her work has been included in group shows including Potter Museum, Australia (2026); La Loma and Vielmetter, CA (2026); RISING, Australia (2025); Parrasch Heijnen, CA (2023); Bundanon Art Museum, Australia (2023); McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery, Australia (2022); and Murray Art Museum, Australia (2021); among others.

Nordin’s work is held in public collections including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia; Monash University Museum of Art, Australia; National Gallery of Victoria, Australia; and MIIA Collection; among others.

Independent | Ina Gerken & Nabilah Nordin

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