Jordan Nelson

EDUCATION:

2012

BFA UW Stout, Menomonie, WI

B.S. Art Education UW Stout, Menomonie, WI

EXHIBITIONS:

2011

Three Cubed, Non-Juried Show, Gallery 209 Menomonie, WI September 11-17

End of the Year Show, Furlong Gallery, Menomonie, WI May-September

Prometheus: Patterns, Furlong Gallery, Menomonie, WI April

2010

Drawing III Show, Non-Juried, Gallery 209, Menomonie, WI

Skin and Bones, Non- Juried Show, Micheels Hall, Menomonie, WI

2009

Putting Art in Art Education, Non-Juried Show, Gallery 209, Menomonie, WI

2006

Non-Juried Show, Daily Brew, Burlington, WI

PUBLIC ART DISPLAYS:

2009-2011

University of Wisconsin-Stout Applied Arts and Micheels Hall

2007

Collaborative Student Mural Painting, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design

COMMISSIONED WORKS:

Portraits 2006- Present

Mural Painting 2005-2006

AWARDS:

2011

Honorable Mention, Prometheus: Patterns

Studies for sculptures

Life Cycle

Horizontal

Vertical. Polycarbonate and Wood

Persistence 1 Charcoal on Paper 42" x 180"

This past week after working through many ideas and understanding certain mappings, I have been connecting my past work to this new project. These drawings of a root structure are very closely related to mapping. My initial idea was to create architectural spaces that related to the path or direction that a person takes through life. This can also be seen in the same relationship to a map. Although it is not a map of following but a map of creating. I find that a person always creates their own map, not following a map. This is why I find so many maps to be minuscule in importance. I find that maps are only relative to certain places that a person has been, therefore I want to discredit the idea of a map taking a person somewhere, but rather a person documenting their journey creating a so called map. This is the idea that I went through while creating these drawings. I find that roots are a structure that constantly persist and are a great metaphor for a life path or map creation. So for the next project I would like to incorporate some of the same elements from my drawings bringing the root structure into a more specific context. Each drawing that was created had a beginning or birth, a development of life, a regression, a misdirection, and a death or unending. The structures created are contained by certain boundaries, but never touch the end. This being purposeful that a person never reaches a true end. I want that same idea to be presented in my current project and for my map to never have a true ending point. There are so many areas of the world and life to be discovered that if a person were to create an ending it would be untrue, due to the nature of life and the idea of an ending being undefinable. Death can be considered a definite end depending on what a person believes. I find that there is no true end to life that a person is constantly reaching for more, just how a root always reaches and persist.

Art for me is much more than just form in space, even though that is the way I often convey my message. My recent work is based mostly on human interaction and how each person is finding his or her way through life. Metaphors are often incorporated in many artworks including my own. My drawings Persistence I and II really utilize a living structure to convey a message of searching or continual searching without giving up. I started Persistence I with the idea of navigation and architectural spaces. Through a long thought process and many drawings, I found myself becoming concentrated into those works. I want to take my journey through life and start to dissect pieces and understand why I am on the so called "path" that I have chosen, and been shaped into.
Many of my other recent works have touched on the ideas of inequalities and discrimination. I find that racial separation and social economic status separation are large parts of society. I find that in my life that the idea social economic status relationships are very important to me and how I perceive certain groups and activities. The separation between social classes is very distinct and will never really vanish, but is an issue I like to address in my works.