Dawn Nelson

I am a visual artist. Mostly I make larger scale paintings, but at other times I assemble painted sculptural constructions from repurposed artifacts, layer mixed media collages, or create installations.

The imagery in my work is largely abstract. Nevertheless, the work reveals a narrative reflecting my life. I sometimes describe it as divining my “innerscapes” as I move through the “outerscapes” of my world.

I am also a teacher.  I taught art in middle and high school for over 30 years.  I have also taught graduate classes to art teachers, working with them towards reconnecting with their own creative process.

Through teaching, I became involved in interdisciplinary collaborations, as well as projects focused on specific subjects. I have collaborated with others in creating projects about subjects as diverse as Elizabethan times, Bats, and African American Migration from south to north.

Early on in my time in North Adams I was a participant in a collaborative project called "The Mill Children". Here I worked with a group of artists from a variety of disciplines in revisiting the world of child laborers at the Eclipse Mill through the Lens of the early 19th century photographs of Lewis Hine.

More recently I became involved in a daily, calendar based, documentation of my life throughout the Trump presidency.  Each day for over 4 years, I created a 6”x 6” collaged piece describing what struck me as most important about the day, be it personal or political. 

Whether approaching a blank canvas, or exploring a new direction, I prefer to follow my intuition and my heart, never knowing where the process will lead me until I am immersed in it.

 At this time in my life, I am looking to make art, to exhibit my art, to sell my art, to cultivate creative process through residencies or classes, or to participate with others in collaborative creative adventures. I would love to become involved as an artist in community centered projects. My heart is open to a wide range of paths to follow on this journey.