Lucy Nelson

Lucy Nelson, who was a creative child with a theatrical background from Shropshire, graduated from Stafford University with a BA (Hona) in Fine Art in 2005. Her early practice as a painter and mixed media artist focused on portraiture and the human body, embellishing textile surfaces, handmade paper and leather. She ran creative workshops for adults with disabilities in the West Midlands after leaving university, before moving to Nottinghamshire where she now resides and has been working in Further Education for 17 years. Based at BACKLIT, she is a postgraduate student at Nottingham Trent University studying an MFA in Fine Art.

In her years in Further Education, she had done small creative projects but didn't have any major practice. She felt frustrated because the no creative outlet, so she bought a sketchbook where she started to sketch ideas. Nelson began to build a portfolio some years ago but did not tell anyone as she did not want the added pressure from those wanting to see it.

"I am a visual artist working with sculpture and sustainable photography techniques. My work is rooted in my personal experience of miscarriage and loss. Due to my experience, I have an interest in why female reproductive health is often underrepresented within the arts and beyond. I question why these topics are considered taboo. Alongside this, I also explore some of the negative historical viewpoints that the female body is problematic. Whilst I continue to revisit and reconnect with loss, themes such as impermanence, uncertainty, interruption and fragility permeate my work."

When creating her own art pieces, she used layers of silicon, which she had previously worked with. She created embryonic forms after a miscarriage experience with a 3D printer pen and hand melting. The simplicity of this image shows how something so simple can create a sad emotion because of the artist's past experience. The clear sack-like shape represents the womb inside a woman and the red silicon represents the blood and sea of emotions that will engulf the woman upon the news.

"For inspiration, I turn to nature. I gather research from plants, insects and other organisms to inform my ideas. Although my sculptures have a human quality, they often resemble sea creatures or plant life due to their ambiguous appearance."

Thus some art pieces looking like a virus.

(Untitled (2022))

(Silicon, pigment, paper clay)