Conversations with Christy Nelson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christy Nelson

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born in Mississippi in the mid-80s as the youngest of seven children. Most of my childhood memories are of running around in the woods with my siblings or sitting and cutting paper while listening to someone reading aloud. One of my older sisters was always drawing—I found myself consistently doing the same. There was a period in my childhood when I was not safe. I have since learned that trauma is not the actual events that happened but those episodes being stored in your body without a release or validating care. I did not have a place to share or heal until more recently. Making art has been a large part of this process. My undergraduate work held some subconscious nods that, in hindsight, I recognize. However, I began to purposely engage art as an avenue of healing in my work leading up to graduate school. This path started when my counselor assigned “homework” to depict a feeling I was trying to communicate to her. It is one thing to say you are expressing something in your work, and it is another thing to have viewers say that they are “seeing” it. Because I knew I needed help to walk the tightrope of visually communicating without being too overt, I went to graduate school. In 2019, I completed my MFA in painting at Colorado State University, where I had a difficult but successful experience. In 2022, I was delighted to become a mother. I was surprised at how much I love the role and how exhausting it is! My husband is a wonderful father, and growing as a family has been a gift. Currently, I am grateful to draw and paint daily following the very assertive art direction of our son (usually, the work is of bulldozers or excavators). I have been honored and delighted to be his full-time primary caregiver, and I am also eager for him to begin a couple of half-day preschool days in the coming months. I adjunct remotely with Red Rocks Community College, and my studio time has been virtually non-existent in 2024. I also have not had a conducive studio space. I am ecstatic that 2025 is looking up on both space and time!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I wouldn’t call it a “smooth road,” but I also can see how every struggle has led to growth. Looking back on it, I am thankful for how my career has evolved. Juggling priorities and making studio time is the hardest part of being an artist for me. The most useful thing for my artwork has been the time spent engaging and understanding my story. Graduate school helped me sort out how my experiences could translate into the visual realm. It was a painful process: being particularly vulnerable in a setting geared to excessively critical feedback. However, the candid assessment of what the work was communicating was what I needed and it was a privilege to receive.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I find used, soiled, discarded, often familial objects, and using art agents like encaustic, stretcher frames, and pigment, change them into new things. The process of tangibly redeeming salvaged forms and freezing them in a moment of restoration is empowering. I am proud of how my work highlights restoration. As the artworks exist in their refreshed states, they push into a shared space with the viewer. Some of the works expose holes or scars that can be closed and re-opened, others explore what we use and discard. My visceral materials and untraditional use of them are distinctive markers of my work.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Determination, resilience, and perspective are invaluable to my practice. Those qualities are what allow me to fight for studio time. However, play and collaboration with the materials are essential once I am in my studio.

Contact Info:

• Email: christynelsonart@gmail.com
• Instagram: christynelsonart