A little about Nelson...
Nelson studied fine art at universities in both the U.S. and Japan and has been working in photography as a medium since childhood. After returning to the U.S from Japan, Nelson went on to earn a PhD in biology – doing research in the lowland Pacific rainforest of Costa Rica and photographing the animals and landscape of that world. In 2001 Nelson helped establish an interdisciplinary research institute at the University of Texas, which he helped run until 2007 when he left the university to finish a large photographic project.
Nelson now works as an independent artist and makes his home in Austin, Texas. He has worked across Latin America and his photography has taken him to most of the National Forests in the United States. He regularly hikes, kayaks, climbs or flies into areas that are difficult to access in order to get photographs. His works have been shown across the U.S. and abroad. In 2009, Nelson's photographs were featured in a show he compiled for the United States Senate, and he was recognized in a show that celebrated the influence of Ansel Adams on contemporary photography.
Nelson frequently works on large projects that have a social purpose in line with his world view. He also works in a variety of other media and gives frequent talks about the causes he supports with his artwork.
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From Nelson's Journal • "The natural world is to me a cathedral, a place of meditation, a source of strength and a supportive old friend. My perception of the world has been influenced by a diverse education in the arts and biology, and when I wander through it I am drawn to its inherent beauty as well as its awesome complexity. As an artist the visual complexity of the natural world provides me with a deep pool of inspiration, and my training in biology draws me to the immense interconnectedness that gives rise to this complexity. Understanding the nature of interconnectedness in the natural world allows us to see an important contrast. Nature is at once incredibly resilient and extraordinarily delicate. It is a source of spiritual renewal that must be protected so that it can in turn renew itself. It is these qualities that also lie within us as a species - we are both individually delicate and phenomenally resilient as a whole. I believe that anyone who is moved by the beauty and complexity of the natural world is gaining an idea of the interconnectedness that underlies both that world and the flux and flow in the world of people. The goal of my work is to move people with my interpretation of these worlds of ours and so help them broaden their understanding of the complex beauty that we walk through every day." |
Selected Recent Exhibits
- 2011, Earth Through A Lens, Juried exhibit, Palm Springs, CA
- 2011, Roadless – One Man's Search for America's Least Known Public Lands, Carbondale, CO
- 2010, Fall of Man, Installation Exhibit, Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT
- 2010, Love's Writ, Juried exhibit, Austin, TX
- 2009, Open Shutter Gallery, Durango, Colorado
- 2009, Colorado Roadless Tour, Durango, Grand Junction, Golden
- 2009, Roadless – In Search of America's Least Known Public Lands, Russell Senate Building Rotunda, Washington DC; Curator and main exhibitor
- 2009, Love's Writ, juried exhibit, Austin, TX
- 2008, Under The Influence: juried exhibit. A Retrospective of the Influence of Ansel Adams on Contemporary Photography, Chico CA
Recent ROADLESS Tour Exhibits
- May 2011, American Mountaineering Museum, Golden, CO
- June 2011, Shilling Studio Gallery, Telluride, CO
- June 2011, Open Shutter Gallery, Durango, CO
- June 2011, Boulder Public library Canyon Theater, Boulder, CO
- June 2011, Around the Corner Art Gallery, Montrose, CO
- June 2011, KAFM Art Gallery, Grand Junction, CO
