Artist Statement

NATURE IS A LANGUAGE; CAN’T YOU READ?
—THE SMITHS

ORGANIC GROWTH IS TANGIBLE EVIDENCE OF HOW ENERGY IS HARNESSED AND CHANNELED INTO FORM AS STRUCTURE EMERGES OUT OF THE VOID. MY IMAGES HAVE A BIOMORPHIC FEEL, WITHOUT BEING LIMITED TO A SINGLE INTERPRETATION OF “WHAT” THEY DEPICT. I PREFER TO DEPICT THE COMMON STRUCTURAL PATTERNS THAT RECUR THROUGHOUT THE WORLD OF BIOLOGICAL STRUCTURE, RATHER THAN PAINTING A SPECIFIC, RECOGNIZABLE SUBJECT.

AS I SEEK TO UNDERSTAND MORE DEEPLY THESE PATTERNS, THESE “STRUCTURAL ARCHETYPES,” WHICH EXERT THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE FORMATION OF EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD, I DERIVE INSPIRATION FROM BOTH SCIENTIFIC AND SPIRITUAL THINKERS. THE WORLD VIEWS OF ZEN BUDDHISTS, MYSTICS, AND SHAMANS SEEM TO BE INCREASINGLY CONVERGING WITH THAT OF QUANTUM PHYSICISTS (E.G., DAVID BOHM AND FRITJOF CAPRA). THE TRADITIONAL NEWTONIAN PHYSICISTS’ MATERIALIST VIEW OF THE FOUNDATION OF REALITY HAS BEEN ERODED BY EXPERIMENTAL FINDINGS WHICH SUGGEST THAT THERE IS NO FUNDAMENTAL SUBATOMIC BUILDING BLOCK, BUT RATHER JUST AN INDETERMINATE FOG OF ENERGY PROBABILITIES.

HOW DO WE THEN RECONCILE THE LACK OF PHYSICAL STRUCTURE AT THE SMALLEST SCALE OF REALITY WITH THE VERY HIGHLY STRUCTURED AND SEEMINGLY “SOLID” WORLD VISIBLE TO US FROM OUR NORMAL HUMAN FRAME OF REFERENCE? THIS CONUNDRUM FEEDS MY ARTISTIC INVESTIGATIONS AS I DANCE AT THE EDGE BETWEEN THE MATERIAL AND THE IMMATERIAL, THE TANGIBLE FORM AND THE INTANGIBLE IDEA WHICH BEGETS IT, THE SPECIFIC FORM AND THE ABSTRACT BLUEPRINT WHICH GIVES RISE TO IT.

JULIE NELSON, 2003

Artist Biography:

JULIE NELSON GREW UP ON THE UPPER EASTERN SHORE OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY IN MARYLAND. STEEPED IN NATURE’S POWERFUL PRESENCE, SHE LEARNED ITS ABSTRACT AND LYRICAL LANGUAGE IN THE FORM OF WIND, WAVES, THUNDER, AND TIDES.

NELSON EARNED HER FIRST B.A. IN ART HISTORY FROM FRANKLIN AND MARSHALL COLLEGE, OUTSIDE OF PHILADELPHIA. SHE SUBSEQUENTLY EARNED A SECOND B.A. IN PAINTING FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, WHERE SHE STUDIED WITH PAINTER RICHARD KLANK, WHOSE EMPHASIS ON THE SPIRITUAL IN ART IMPRESSED HER DEEPLY.

AFTER A CAREER IN ARTS ADMINISTRATION AS AN EDUCATOR, ARTS ADVOCATE, CURATOR AND CRITIC, NELSON HAS RETURNED TO PAINTING AS HER PRIMARY PURSUIT. HER ARTISTIC HERITAGE INCLUDES ARTISTS AND WRITERS WHO RELATE TO NATURE SPIRITUALLY AND MYSTICALLY, SUCH AS HERMANN HESSE, AGNES MARTIN, RUMI, HAFIZ, CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI, PIET MONDRIAN, GEORGIA O’KEEFFE, DAVID BOHM, FRITJOF CAPRA, ANNIE DILLARD, AND ARTHUR DOVE. HER STUDIES IN ZEN BUDDHISM , THE NEW PHYSICS, AND SHAMANISM FUEL HER INVESTIGATION IN PAINTING.

IT IS THE UNIVERSAL “LANGUAGE OF NATURE” THAT SHE NOW SPEAKS IN HER PAINTING – ITS ARCHETYPAL PATTERNS OF RHYTHMIC EBB AND FLOW, AS IT MANIFESTS THE MOVEMENTS OF THE ETERNAL TAO. FOR NELSON, PAINTING PROVIDES AN ENTRY POINT FOR MERGING WITH THE FLOW OF ENERGIES SHE OBSERVES IN NATURE WHILE PAINTING.