About
Lucy Nelson (b.1983, Shropshire) is a visual artist based in Nottingham, UK. Lucy joins a material-driven practice with concerns around woman/nature stereotypes, disconnection from nature and the experience of maternal loss. Working primarily with sculpture, Lucy moves between synthetic and natural materials to create ambiguous forms. The medical and museum specimen is often referenced through clinical staging whilst interweaving ideas of absence, growth, fragility and interrupted processes. Lucy studied a MFA in Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University. Her work has been exhibited across Nottingham, including Nottingham Contemporary and venues in Cambridge and Sheffield.
EDUCATION
2022 – 2024 MFA Fine Art, Nottingham Trent University
2002 – 2005 BA (hons) Fine Art, Staffordshire University
EXHIBITIONS
2024 Escape Simplicity | Surface Gallery | Nottingham
2024 Ilkeston Contemporary Arts x Cosimo x Imprimo | Ilkon | Ilkeston
2024 Backlit Gallery Members Show | Backlit Gallery | Nottingham
2024 Ta-Da! | Backlit Project Space | Nottingham
2024 Wherever You May Wander | Surface Gallery | Nottingham
2024 Tiny Plants | Fronteer Gallery | Sheffield
2023 Beginnings and Endings, online and zine | Haus-a-rest
2023 The Tradition of Nonsense | Backlit – The Main Gallery | Nottingham
2023 Resonance and Wonder Pop-Up | Zion Baptist Church and Stork Crypt | Cambridge
2023 Portalis | Nottingham Contemporary | Nottingham
2023 Re.View | Backlit - The Project Gallery | Nottingham
2005 Graduate Degree Show | Staffordshire University | Stoke-On-Trent
2003 Boys and Girls | Elective Gallery | Stoke-On-Trent
RESIDENCIES, PROJECTS + AWARDS
Current Lumina X Maid Marian Legacy
2025 The Eaton Fund Award
2024 EM24 | Surface Gallery
2024 Lumina X Women In Horror
2023 Women In Art Finalist
2022 – 2023 Catalyst | Nottingham Contemporary
2022 Vieunite X NTU Biophilia Finalist
2022 Human Nature Connect with Intercultural Roots | Ingleton, Yorkshire
WORKSHOPS + PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
2024 Artist Talk | EM24 | Surface Gallery
2024 Shells, stones, bones and seeds | Surface Gallery
2024 Artist Talk | Island Festival | Surface Gallery
2023 Micro Discovery | Nottingham Contemporary
2023 Pecha Kucha | Nottingham Trent University
2023 Professional Practice Guest Speaker for FDA Fine Art | Nottingham College
2022 Pecha Kucha | Nottingham Trent University
2005 - 2006 Belmont Arts Centre | Shrewsbury
2005 Walton Youth Club | Stafford
2003 Stage Coach Theatre Arts School | Shrewsbury
WRITING
2024 Musings for a work in progress: When the grass is free, it dies |
Motherlore Magazine Issue 2 Roots
PRESS + FEATURES
2024 EM24: Spotlight on Lucy Nelson, Interview by Charlotte Pimm-Smith
2024 Graduate Festival 24, Nottingham School of Art + Design Masters Showcase
2023 Portalis Interview for Nottingham Contemporary
2023 We Are Creatives, Nottingham School of Art + Design Masters Showcase
MEMBERSHIP + COLLECTIVES
Lumina Collective
BACKLIT
Vieunite Artist Community