Today we’d like to introduce you to Nelson Jalil.
Hi Nelson, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in a colonial city called Camagüey, in the central part of the island of Cuba.
I started studying art when I was pretty young, and later I moved to Havana to complete my studies at the University of the Arts.
Since then, I’ve focused on developing my artistic projects while living in Havana and, more recently, in Miami, where I’ve been based for almost four years.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I can’t speak for other artists, but I’m pretty sure the art path is never smooth.
The creative process is like a very fragile ecosystem, and as an artist you face the challenge of preserving it while dealing with all kinds of external situations life presents. It can mean living in a context like Cuba, pretty isolated by a totalitarian regime, or having to reinvent yourself in many ways as part of the process of becoming an immigrant.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I usually introduce myself as a visual artist. My work is mainly focused on painting, though I’ve explored other media like installation and video.
In the past five years, I’ve been developing my series Amnesia, where I depict libraries, bookshelves, and file rooms exposed to the four classical elements, fire, water, wind, and earth, in which I explore themes such as memory, loss, and impermanence.
Right now, while still working on the ongoing Amnesia series, I’m experimenting with relocating the four classical elements into new scenarios. I’m really excited about this body of work because of all the new possibilities these recent explorations are bringing to my work.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I think there is a kind of “urgency” that drives me through the process of creating a painting. It acts like fuel, impelling me from point A to point B, even when the road doesn’t always look like a smooth American highway.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nelsonjalil.com
- Instagram: @nelson_jalil
Image Credits
First three images by Estudio8Photography.
Remaining images courtesy of the artist.
