Artist statement: Various forms of folk art have profoundly influenced my work. I am interested in the carnivalesque questioning of the lines between human and animal, the beautiful and the ugly, power and powerlessness. Recycled materials, such as old newspapers and plastic bags, are often present in my sculptures and mixed media pieces. Beside my 3D works, photography is a central part of my investigation into different layers of reality. In my photo art I particularly look at the nocturnal, dreamlike aspect, creating a flatness that resembles signs.

Biography: The Swedish artist and journalist Cecilia Nelson has a BA from University of Gothenburg, where she studied art, journalism and philosophy. In recent years she has studied sculpture at National Academy School of Fine Arts and Design in New York. Her work has been exhibited in solo shows and juried group shows in New York, as well as in Sweden, Finland and Poland. Scholarships have enabled her to implement a number of research trips, focusing on the transformational aspect of local art traditions in a postcolonial context.

Cecilia Nelson is also a writer and a literary critic.