Memory Myth Motif

A surreal combination of objects, ‘Memory Myth Motif Centaur with Objects’ might resemble a dreamlike collision of myth and fragmented cultural artefact. Nelsen began his ceramic practice in Japan, subsequently traveling Asia to extensively study eastern ceramic technique, and many of his sculptures exhibit a control over multiple frames of reference within those influences. This work’s tight tangle of forms teeters, as though caught in a moment before collapse. The expressive figure of the centaur and balletic rider merge into a larger sense of movement and chaotic balance. Nelsen was the first ceramicist to build an anagama kiln in the US, and the distinctive glaze on the piece is created from wood ash super-heated within its long sloped structure.