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Grant Recipient

Scott Nelson

Windgate-Lamar Fellowship

2023

In observing the increasing digitalization of our age, the preoccupation with and dependency on information, my work attempts provide a counter force, emphasizing our interconnectivity to source, materiality, and subject. In an era where objects are a click away, arriving at your doorstep ready for use, it is in a sense removed from its roots and so offers less reason to linger with them, to experience an appreciation for details, tangibility, and history. Having worked in the home construction trades for years and then receiving a traditional woodworking education, it has become clear how the “just add water” expectancy of today’s consumer culture informs our relationship to objects. I strive to produce functional objects with the subject at its center, highlighting evidence of environmental processes and the hands involved in its production. Working with wood as one of the most universally familiar materials, and in combination with contemporary and legacy techniques, my work focuses on objects with sustained utility, historicity, and narrative.

Bio of the Artist

Organization Background

Born in southern California, Scott first began working with wooden materials after moving to Portland, Oregon. While doing general construction on early twentieth century homes, he was introduced to old growth lumber that he began turning into simple furniture for his friends and family. Falling in love with the material and desiring a traditional woodworking education, Scott attended the Krenov School in the small town of Fort Bragg in Northern California. Receiving a BA in applied design at San Diego State University and starting a collective woodshop with other talented makers in San Diego, Scott attempts to blend the pragmatic furniture design with hyper-attention to detail of fine art. Always maintaining a reverence for the material, he hopes his work will act as a dialogue between the material source, those involved in its production, and its user.

Location

San Diego, CA

EDUCATION

SPECIALIZATION

Furniture/Wood

Institution

Grant amount

$15,000

Also awarded

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Selected works

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