Artist Statement
Looking, moving, and making have always been my superpower, and my medicine. I approach painting as a form of choreography, drawing from my background as a ballet dancer.
When I paint and draw, I project myself, through the power of my imagination, into the space of the image. The tip of my pen, pencil, and brush act as extensions of my optical apparatus and the sensibilities of my body; I connect to the objects I depict. In a sense, I become one with them. In drawing a face, a tree branch, or the surface of a building, it is as if I am touching them. This feels special, this feels important – I feel changed, because I create.
In a world that appears to be rapidly overtaken by artificial intelligence, I sense the profound importance of human creativity which uses materials from the earth – pigment, ink, paper, canvas. These materials capture human thought, gesture, and emotion and mirror them back out into the world, to anyone open enough to slow down, wonder, and gaze at them.
Biography
Val Nelson is a Vancouver-based multi-disciplinary artist whose career spans more than thirty years. Her practice integrates painting, drawing, video, and performance in a distinctive fusion of disciplines. Nelson’s work engages themes of image and human experience through a deeply embodied and process-oriented artistic practice. She graduated with Honours in Media Arts from Emily Carr College of Art and Design in 1988, launching a dynamic career marked by solo and group exhibitions across Canada and internationally.
Her solo exhibitions include notable shows such as Phantom DNA (2022) at Visual Space Gallery in Vancouver, Being There (2014) and Bilder/Pictures (2013) at Bau-Xi Gallery (Vancouver and Toronto), and The Happy Place (2012) at Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal.
A recognized presence in Canadian contemporary art, Nelson’s works are held in collections such as the Canada Council Art Bank, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Surrey Art Gallery, and notable private collections across Canada and the United States.
Nelson has received numerous grants and awards, including the Canada Council Travel Grant (2011), Artist Grant from Vermont Studio Center (2011), finalist in the New Canadian Painting Competition (2003).
In addition to her artistic output, Val Nelson is an experienced instructor dedicated to mentoring emerging artists. Since 2009, she has taught painting both in-person and online through platforms like Craftsy, and contributed as a guest instructor at institutions including North Island College, Vancouver Island School of Art, and North Shore Artist Guild; she has also led a painting retreat in Tuscany.
Her work has been highlighted in arts media, with features in Vancouver Sun, Dance International Magazine, and CBC radio. A 2018 video documentary by Vancouver Review Media, Val Nelson – A Self-Portrait, offers further insight into her creative process.
Val Nelson continues to live and work in Vancouver, actively exhibiting, teaching, and contributing to the contemporary Canadian art dialogue.
