06/11/2026
This piece, titled "Lullaby Before the Storm," explores the ideas and moralities of human vs. robot on hand-shaped panels. Nelson uses the image of a Renaissance woman as a symbol of the artist's hand and places it in direct contrast with the robot and thus the artificially manufactured. When we see Renaissance era art, we think of the masters, the honing and mastery of artistic skill, and great revolution in art. Paintings of the era strove to realistically capture humanity and anatomy with a great focus on flesh, the body, expression, and fabric. In "Lullaby Before the Storm," these qualities sit next to the hard metal exterior of the robot with its blank stare.
In an era where growing fear of human obsolescence in the midst of thickening propaganda re-moralizing our uncertainty, Nelson addresses these sentiments specifically. His process is a commentary within itself, using labor intensive techniques to create multimedia pieces of smoothed out under-paintings and layers of clear coats and graphite/white pencil to create illustrative style chiaroscuro--techniques that again reference the Renaissance and human creativity.
Still available as of today at La Luz de Jesus Gallery.
Link in bio to acquire this piece!
