BIO

Born in New York and raised in Dallas, Naomi Schlinke is currently a resident of Austin, Texas. She received a B.A. and M.A. in dance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1975. In the 1970s and early ‘80s Naomi danced with the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company and the Joe Goode Performance Group, both based in San Francisco. To a great degree, her approach is still grounded in the experiences that she absorbed as a professional dancer during that period when the artists of greatest influence in her world were Merce Cunningham and John Cage. The forces at work on the dancing body still adhere in her artwork.

Since relocating to Austin from San Francisco in 1994, Schlinke has exhibited her work at the Robert McClain Gallery and D.M. Allison Gallery both in Houston, The Dallas Contemporary and the MAC in Dallas, Texas State University in San Marcos, Women & Their Work, D Berman Gallery, the Dougherty Art Center, and Northern-Southern Gallery all in Austin. Most recently, she was included in the group show "Women of Abstraction" at the Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi as well as "The Indivisible Spectrum" at the Painting Center in New York City. While in San Francisco she was represented by Braunstein-Quay Gallery.


“What interests me most is to find the shortest distance between the nature of the materials and the image produced. Working with brushes as well as pouring, rolling, compressing, sanding, washing, and other events, I look for an image that appears to be “naturally occurring” like rain or snow---something that is perpetually in transition. I make use of the uncanny resemblances that occur, allowing them to resonate, suggesting a narrative dimension.” Naomi Schlinke