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If I were 22: Gayle Nelson

Just starting your career? Get out there – meet people and see things, says lecturer, curator and artist Gayle Nelson. 

Gayle Nelson
4 min read

Working towards my fine art degree show was an intense time and I could not think beyond it. When it finished, I moved back in with my parents to save money, and I was determined that nothing was going to prevent me continuing to develop as an artist and from making work on a daily basis as part of that.

Thinking back, I do not know how my parents put up with me. I built large constructions in what had once been my much-loved teenage bedroom, melted wax over things which became stuck in glossy blobs in the pile of the carpet, showered everything with sawdust and generally produced a lot of ‘stuff’ which became more and more unfocused as I slogged away in a complete social and cultural vacuum.

Think about the people around you. Your first idea is not necessarily your best idea.

Internships are an amazing way to gain a real insight into all aspects of whatever area of the arts you are interested in. A few years after I graduated, I moved to San Francisco and took on a series of what were incredibly invaluable placements. I learned loads about curating, running an arts organisation and more. 

It’s something that I’d recommend anyone seek out at an early juncture. It’s an opportunity to soak up such a lot of combined knowledge from the fantastic people you get to work with.

Young people who have attended mainstream schools and then become consequently immersed in academia (myself included at 22) may have rarely come into contact with people who are on the autism spectrum or who have learning and other disabilities. But as an artist or curator you have many different audiences and many see the world in different ways. 

My son is autistic and I have worked and continue to work with many children and young people with additional support needs. Having the opportunity to work with some amazing individuals and to gain an understanding of how other people process their environment and communicate with others is something every arts professional should benefit from.

A bit of an obvious one, but a must for the personal development of anyone working in an arts field. I have visited Documenta in Kassel twice and this has been a huge influence on my own work and curatorial projects that I have undertaken. It’s a wonderful event, which presents work by a huge number of internationally-renowned artists in an eclectic range of venues, such as museums, railways stations, parks and more.

Which brings me to my final piece of advice…

Possibly there is more scope to exhibit outwith a gallery setting now, and better examples of this working in practice than when I was 22, in which case I would encourage it wholeheartedly.

The traditional gallery setting still has its place, but working outside of a gallery context offers the scope to develop work that can go in a whole other direction, reach many different audiences and really challenge artists to consider the context of their work and those who will come to see it. As a result of my visits to Documenta and a number of other events, and my interest in the vernacular architecture and character of my home town, I am now involved in organising and curating an event in rural Fife, Scotland – the Cupar Arts Festival – which provides artists with this invaluable opportunity, and audiences the chance to benefit from it.

Gayle Nelson is a visual artist and lecturer. She is President of the Society of Scottish Artists and Director of the Cupar Arts Festival, which runs from 18-25 June.
www.gaylenelsonprojects.com
www.s-s-a.org
www.cupararts.org.uk
Tw: @Gayle__Nelson