James Nielsen
b. 1989 ∙ CE artist since 2011-2013; 2015
Photo by Evguenia Shtill
James Nielsen worked at Creativity Explored from 2011 to 2013 and returned in 2015. James is unafraid to spend weeks working on an art piece involving multiple steps. Nielsen has the patience and foresight to let the layers accumulate. It is this layering that defines much of his art practice.
Nielsen's abstract paintings and drawings use layers of different media, and of marks. A typical piece may consist of an initial broad wash of acrylic, then a layer of loose graphite marks or painted grids, followed by a final coating of inks or acrylics daubed on or applied in smooth gestural strokes.
The effect of the completed work makes the viewer an archeologist, uncovering each stage of the piece’s creation in progression from the newest strata on the surface, down through the successive levels, to its original, earliest layer. But Nielsen's works aren’t merely rigid accretions; they move and flow, reveal hidden snatches of their mysterious past, and tease the eye into creating organic forms from the fluid abstractions.
Select Exhibitions & Projects
2020
The park "a darling walk for the mind", Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA
2017
Black White, Creativity Explored, San Francisco, CA