Artist Interview: Nelson, Batsford Prize 2022 Fine Art winner

In today’s edition of our Batsford Prize Artist Interview series, we meet Nelson who won the Fine Art category with the work ‘Hi Daddy’ (or ‘If you say the words you don’t need to go back’).

Nelson is a contemporary conceptual artist who recently completed a Graduate Diploma in Fine Art at the Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London. Her winning work, responding to this year’s Batsford Prize theme ‘Communication and Connection’ is a short film about a traumatic memory centred around attempting to communicate with a parent about something difficult. In the memory, the phone used for the conversation has become an anchor object, remembered in acute detail, and linked laterally to other memories.

In this Q&A, she goes into detail about how the work came to be, what influences her creative practice, her fascination of the abject and uncomfortable in art, and why she decided to leave her career in the city to become an artist.

Hi Nelson! What was your piece about? Can you tell us what initially influenced it and what it means to you?

When my parents divorced my (abusive) Father had visitation rights every fortnight in his home. When I was about 8 I wanted to go to a birthday party on one of his weekends. My grandmother told me I had to phone him to tell him that I didn’t want to see him. Whilst the call was primarily about this single weekend it marked the end of my relationship with my Father and I didn’t visit him again. I have vivid, sensory memories of the call, of sitting at the bottom of the stairs whilst my grandmother dialled the number on an old-fashioned rotary phone. I was terrified about making the call, about finding the right words, about what his reaction would be.

I wanted to create a film-work centred around using a phone to make a difficult conversation. The film focussed on the sensory characteristics of the phone and on my response to them.

My intent was to explore two things:

• The importance of objects in memory – why we can recall vivid detail about objects associated with traumatic memory
• Finding the right words – fear of saying the wrong thing, fear of not being able to speak at all

The visual and auditory inspirations for the work are wide-ranging – the film Atlantic by Sam Taylor-Johnson, the memory paintings of Gerhard Richter, and the soundtrack of Berberian Sound Studio, directed by Peter Strickland.

What mediums or materials did you decide to use, and why?

I am not wedded to any medium in my practice but I am drawn to film, particularly performative film, more than anything else. Partly because the passage of time in a film-work allows you to progress an idea from the perspective of the audience and partly because performance seems to me the most direct method of putting across an idea – there is so little translation required from how a concept appears in my head to how it is presented with my body.

What made you want to study fine art?

I left a career in the city two years ago, not long after having my child. Her birth was a form of re-birth for me – I realised how deeply unsatisfied I was in my career and decided that if I was going to spend time away from her then it had to be for something that felt worthwhile to me. I had always had a passion for craft (I study hand embroidery at the Royal School of Needlework part-time) and was a competent draughtsman but it was undertaking a Foundation course in Art and Design that really expanded my sense of the art I wanted to make. Suddenly I felt I had permission to create things that had meaning beyond their aesthetic value – that I could tell stories about myself and my experiences that were potent and, I hoped, had meaning for others too. Through this I could make real connections with people who had similar experiences or had similar questions about life. I love it now when people, women in particular, tell me they have seen a piece of mine and it has resonated with them.

What are your biggest artistic inspirations? Are there other artists who you admire or who inspire you?

Female artists who use their body and/or their trauma to create work like Hannah Wilke, Orlan and Tracey Emin, are huge sources of inspiration for me. I love the style of work of Ryan Trecartin, the performance pieces of Marina Abramovic and the performative aspects of work by Cindy Sherman and Gillian Wearing. I am slightly obsessed with Paul McCarthy. I know many people find his work problematic but I find the darkness in it supremely attractive.

I think uncomfortable work worms its way into your brain and replays itself there until you have no choice but to address it.

How would you describe your style? Would you say that it has changed over time?

Before my Foundation I painted portraits in oil as a hobby but I moved quite quickly into a much more conceptual space as my practice developed. My primary interest is in self-identity – who was I as child, what happened to me and how does that define who I am today? What does being a mother mean to me, what happens during the transition from ‘single’ woman to mother – what do we lose and gain, and how can I try to shape the world so that my daughter can live her true self without fear of judgement or prejudice? Can I, as a woman, live beyond the social constructs I am told I must conform to? I am deeply interested in the abject – in creating discomfort in the audience – and how this marries with very dark humour. I think uncomfortable work worms its way into your brain and replays itself there until you have no choice but to address it.

What does winning the Batsford Prize Fine Art Award mean to you?

For someone who was conditioned from being very young to pursue a corporate career for financial security, it has been a huge leap of faith to move into the Fine Arts. I understand that an audience’s enjoyment of my work, or engagement with it, is entirely subjective but I still need a sense that I am ‘doing the right thing’ beyond my own personal fulfilment. Winning this prize gives me a sense that perhaps people can see potential in what I do – it helps me keep the faith!

After you have completed your studies, what do you see yourself doing next

I’ve just been awarded a First in my Graduate Diploma at Chelsea which I am delighted with. In September I start an MA in Contemporary Art Practice at the RCA. My favourite part of my academic journey has definitely been the crit sessions with my peers – the discussion, debate and joint exploration of ideas. It’s the time when I feel most part of the subculture that is the art world. I will miss it too much when I finally graduate so hope to set up a shared studio and artist-led exhibition space.

Find out more about Nelson’s work on the Nelson Contemporary Art Website and follow her on Instagram.

About the Batsford Prize

The Batsford Prize is an annual award open for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the fields of applied art and textiles, fine art and illustration. View the winners and runners up of this year’s award here. The theme for the Batsford Prize 2023 will be revealed shortly…

We’ve got more artist interviews coming up where we’ll meet Children’s Illustration award Justin Worsley and Applied Art & Textiles winner Grace Faichnie. Available to read now are:

Artist Interview: Wuon Gean Ho, Batsford Prize 2022 Illustration winner
Artist Interview: Annie Booker, Batsford Prize 2022 – People’s Choice Award Winner