Artist Statement
The slip-cast porcelain assemblages of Chicago-born sculptor Nelson Gregory Reyes serve to critique our relationship with the human, technological, and spiritual self. The work is a conglomeration of shapes through geometric repetition, creating technological totems.
The forms are at once intricate and visually concise. Sampling anatomical structures, mechanical components, science fiction vocabularies, graffiti culture, and global spiritual iconography, the geometric structures call into question the origins of belief, the futility of the art object, and normative beliefs while embracing that which unites us.
About Me
I always gravitated to art. As a young boy growing up on the west side of Chicago, I became best friends with my mother's old textbook, Jansen's Art History. Sketching gave way to graffiti, battle rapping at house parties, and music production. The pace of life really slowed down when my family moved to the Phoenix metro area.
I didn't know ceramics was even a thing until my late 20s. As soon as I dug my hands into a fresh bag of clay at a community college in Mesa, AZ I was hooked. Fresh after obtaining a BFA in Ceramics from Arizona State University I started working as a Dream Consultant for Techshop, a now-defunct makerspace company. There, I learned the ins and outs of physical and digital fabrication.
After my promotion to Lead Consultant, I joined the Special Project team and started traveling the world launching new makerspaces and activating pop-up spaces with General Electric Garages. It wasn't long before I took a permanent position with Make in Al Zeina Abu Dhabi.
When the opportunity presented itself I left for China to learn about ceramics from the master craftspeople of Jingdezhen and to spend time in the Philippines with my then-girlfriend, now wife, Judy Ann.
With a little one on the way, I decided to pursue an academic career and joined the FUSE Studios team at Northwestern University, not far from where I grew up in Chicago. Our team of 6 was responsible for implementing a cognitive science-based research program, developing choice-based learning software for middle and high school students. My role was to synthesize feedback from the end users to improve the software, strengthen the content, and develop support structures for successful implementations.
Working on a small software team was exhilarating, but the feeling that I was veering away from my artistic calling became too much to bear. I lept at the chance to join New York University in Abu Dhabi, UAE and manage their arts workshop, where I now work with students and faculty to realize their artistic visions and develop my own practice.
My mother always emphasized the power of education, she herself a dual masters wielding special education teacher. Without her loving support, the endless care and kindness given to me by my father, and the inspiration and affection of my brothers, I think this wild world would have swallowed me up by now. Now it's my turn to reflect that compassion to my young family and share ideas of love and life through my art.
