A Constantly Evolving Shape
BY CHRISTOPHER OWEN NELSON
T he prevailing paradigm for artists is to find a style, a medium, a consistent voice — stick with it and mine it. My professional template runs counter that model. This wasn’t by design, but rather was an organic process bolstered by an undergirding of trust in myself. My work changes as I change, grows as I grow. My commitment is to interpret and represent that evolution in a form that seems appropriate. While there is a consistent conceptual and philosophical thread that runs through all my work — of existence, the surreal elements of life, as well as the man-made orchestration of constructs like buildings and boundaries — my true strength as an artist has been a drive toward relentless experimentation and a constant determination to innovate.
My experimentation always presents a stimulating challenge that feeds me and is also quite fun, yet it remains, first and foremost, in the service of the project at hand. I let my flexibility and adaptability guide me, and I never feel hemmed in by a particular media.
My experimentation always presents a stimulating challenge that feeds me and is also quite fun, yet it remains, first and foremost, in the service of the project at hand. I let my flexibility and adaptability guide me, and I never feel hemmed in by a particular media.
Multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, mixed media — it isn’t the title or genre that matters when trying to pin down my art. The refinement and evolution of my work has always been a priority. By broadening my understanding of materials, processes, and techniques, I expand my opportunities to present my concepts in new and distinct ways by incorporating them into my works.
My installations include painting; my sculptural work can be site specific; my “geodes” have concrete and glass; used carpet and found objects happily coexist in a work, and my paintings might be set with a blowtorch. Each of my series highlights particular concepts using a process, a material, or combination thereof that is unique — from carved and back-painted, multi-panel reliefs in acrylic, to stainless steel monumental sculptural works, to collage works on paper.
My installations include painting; my sculptural work can be site specific; my “geodes” have concrete and glass; used carpet and found objects happily coexist in a work, and my paintings might be set with a blowtorch. Each of my series highlights particular concepts using a process, a material, or combination thereof that is unique — from carved and back-painted, multi-panel reliefs in acrylic, to stainless steel monumental sculptural works, to collage works on paper.
As a man, I am a constantly evolving shape. I believe this ceaseless metamorphosis is apparent in my practice, materials, and final pieces. I thrive in the research and development phase. I have always been drawn to experimentation, not just for the sake of it, but also to seek the best ways to depict my latest concept.
I seek far and wide for the right materials for a project brewing in my head. I often innovate brand new methods while integrating common and non-art materials into my efforts. Each piece is fueled by my struggles with new ways to execute each concept. The final object is impregnated with the energy entailed in its creation — the many challenges I overcome which result in the finished “piece.”
I seek far and wide for the right materials for a project brewing in my head. I often innovate brand new methods while integrating common and non-art materials into my efforts. Each piece is fueled by my struggles with new ways to execute each concept. The final object is impregnated with the energy entailed in its creation — the many challenges I overcome which result in the finished “piece.”
Trained in classical methods in drawing and painting, I developed a deep appreciation for composition and form. Unfortunately, art school quashed my creative vitality for several years. But this hiatus from formal artwork laid the foundation and provided the skillset that propelled me back to creativity. It began when I was working in a snowboard shop. I began to playfully experiment by carving into the acrylic sheets with a variety of tools. It dawned on me that this method synthesized the concept and the form of the body of work that was developing and crystallizing in my brain at the time.
I worked in construction, gaining valuable knowledge in concrete, steel, and woodworking that provided the foundation for a new and innovative artistic approach. Simultaneously, I enveloped myself in music, finding success as a composer/songwriter and musician. The organic nature of music, the balance and imbalance, became another layer in my artistic arsenal. The time away from the studio was transformative.
My portraiture suggests the complexities and subtleties of each individual. The process of casting torn-up love letters, writings, and fabrics into hand-carved and painted cast resin serves as a multi-dimensional vehicle from which to discover what truly connects us one to another — to rearrange fragments of a story to create a portrayal of what the individual embodies.
In my geode works, I want the viewer to feel as though they were looking at something fossilized, while addressing environmental topics such as deforestation, overpopulation, and waste. The geodes, sculpted from cast dichroic glass and concrete, are molded into perfect geometric shapes, suggesting attempts by humans to control or manipulate the environment, trying to improve upon nature’s perfection. Geodes are already perfect — people are already perfect! The drive to recreate perfect things is a bizarre and integral part of the human psyche.
Watch:
I want my work to be a celebration of the whole-hearted effort that I make every single day. I am beginning to see the long distance, the cohesion in the chaos, and I like it! I make it a goal to find the thing in my work that REALLY represents my outlook.
It must be the truth. This opens the floodgates of inspiration!
Following is a personal statement that accompanied a recent show I had this year:
Following is a personal statement that accompanied a recent show I had this year:
Sanding and polishing are some of my favorite things to do. During this time of intense mental focus, my heart wanders and searches. It finds this tree when it first sprouted out of the ground from the forest floor, the year of its first ring. It finds a blossoming sapling, learning to open its branches to the sky, and a giant, anchoring its roots deep into the earth. It finds years of storms that have torn limbs from the body that almost snapped under pressure, and years when the rain was gentle and nourishing. It finds the longest drought, and watches its last earthly act of falling, returning to the dust of the earth from which it sprouted.
My heart looks down to see the final ring that was formed, marking the last of this earthly body, and decides that it doesn’t have to end there. To rebirth. To give new life and new meaning to something that can teach us about ourselves, this is the mission of my heart in my work. We are all giant, majestic forces moving through this earth, each with our own map of rings, formed by all of our experience . . . happiness, trauma, joy, sadness, loss, and love.
My heart looks down to see the final ring that was formed, marking the last of this earthly body, and decides that it doesn’t have to end there. To rebirth. To give new life and new meaning to something that can teach us about ourselves, this is the mission of my heart in my work. We are all giant, majestic forces moving through this earth, each with our own map of rings, formed by all of our experience . . . happiness, trauma, joy, sadness, loss, and love.
My goal is to continuously analyze this connectivity in an attempt to convey the possibilities that lie within the nurturing of a human’s relationship with his or her surroundings. The open space where I hike, walk my dog, and fish year-round inspires me. I stay attuned to minute details: the burble of the stream, the changes in the trees and flowers and weeds from season to season, the locale of rocks, and the habits and habitats of fish and birds, all the while asking, “How are we all connected?” While more literal interpretations of my work are inescapable, these coexist with my desire to impart a seeing beyond the obvious. My work continues to grow in scale and in concept.
Trusting my passionate immersion in this personal and artistic evolutionary process has led to honest work that says what I want it to say. The mercurial art world, with its oft-inscrutable trends, has smiled upon me with a nod of acceptance, and for that I am grateful.
I like to think that the receptivity to my art, in all its varied forms, has to do with each piece being imbued with my sincerity, my internal quest, and my devotion to my creative process, and that all this is on full, undiluted display.
I like to think that the receptivity to my art, in all its varied forms, has to do with each piece being imbued with my sincerity, my internal quest, and my devotion to my creative process, and that all this is on full, undiluted display.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christopher Owen Nelson thrives in the vast arid landscape of the American West. As a Colorado native, he studied fine arts at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, where he learned classical methods in drawing and painting. Early honors include the Painting Award at the 15th National Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, Massachusetts (awarded by Paul Ha, the director of the List Visual Art Center at M.I.T.). Recently, Nelson’s achievements in the arts have been featured in several national publications, including: Western Art Collector; Luxe Interiors and Design; Western Art and Architecture; Santa Fean magazine, and American Art Collector.
Museums and universities that have exhibited his work include Taos Art Museum, Taos, New Mexico; Southern Utah Museum Of Art, Cedar City, Utah; Colorado Governor’s Art Show, Loveland, Colorado; The Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina; Boulder Museum of Art, Boulder, Colorado; The Art Museum at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky; St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland, and a solo show at The Gallery at 350 Bleecker, New York, New York. Corporate and public art collections include the State of New Mexico, Wisdom Tree Investments, New York, New York; Rocky Mountain Cancer Center, Boulder, Colorado; Distant Cellars Vineyard, Fiddletown, California; Goodwill Industries, and Ritz Carlton.
Artists On Art magazine ● July / August 2018 ● www.ArtistsOnArt.com