come down (halcyon)
wood, chain, printed chiffon, earring
2022

devotion (after David)
colored pencil on paper, mylar tape, reclaimed wood
2021-22

hubris II
wax, padlock, cast-iron brackets, reclaimed wood
2021-22

that night the men's bathroom flooded
colored pencil on paper
2022

the way they made me feel
plexiglass
2021

Justin Nelson

My work explores the relationship between temporality and sexuality. I pull inspiration from the queer American 1970’s-1980’s, and religious iconography from the Middle Ages through a Lacanian/Derrida lens. I am interested in Derrida’s hauntology and Lacan’s definition of Jouissance and how these realms of thought inform my practice and my pursuit of sexual satiation. I mix my personal narratives with a past I was not alive for.

In a way this work is my way of coming to terms with my Christian upbringing and a sexually repressive childhood. Allowing both spirituality and sexuality to coexist in one body. I think often about the story of Icarus and I see this body of work as the fall of Icarus. The suspension of chiffon and use of wax molds, and objects placed on the ground allude to this.

I describe my practice as a dog chasing it’s own tail. In my voyeuristic desire to see myself in sexual ecstasy I generate a momentum strung on by impossibility.