R u s t y N e l s o n |
Specialities graphic design/illustration Associate Professor of Art Visual Communications Truman State University Kirksville, Missouri 63501 [member of Truman faculty since 1998 Education Bachelor of Fine Arts: Graphic Design, Fort Hays State University - 1982 Master of Fine Arts: Visual Communications, Kansas State University - 1995 |
Clients
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| All Rights Reserved |
| Clapboard Portrait Series |
| Bottom Dweller |
| Reaper |
| Turning Sod |
| I felt like a western |
| Mule Team |
My interest in illustration professionally has
given me the skills necessary to visually
explore the area, people and culture that
existed and continues to exist in spite of the
homogeneous nature of contemporary
society. This region is “fly-over” country and is
struggling whether or not to retain its unique
culture. This desire to visually document the
history, culture, and people derive from
witnessing the slow decline of the small town in
which I was raised. My work is a rural point of
view that is becoming more obscure in our
metropolitan society and challenges the
stereotypes seen in much of contemporary
culture of the region that is backward and
unsophisticated.
I utilize visual motifs of mass media in my work.
Many pieces utilize the motion picture
letterbox format to place and elevate the
subjects into a format typically reserve for
movie stars. The use of hyper- color in images
originally taken in black and white symbolizes
the Technicolor vocabulary in which we
currently view the world. This is a response to
the motion picture "The Wizard of Oz", where
Hollywood forever doomed Kansas to sepia
brown.
S e l e c t e d S h o w s 1 9 9 9 Truman State University Student Union 1 9 9 7 Fort Hays State Union Gallery Wamego Theater Gallery 1 9 9 6 Kansas Wesleyan Gallery University of Kansas Union Gallery 1 9 9 5 Kansas State Graduate Show
3 Rivers Gallery - Bennington, KS |
| These works simply document my family. The people I knew either personally or through stories passed down through the decades and associated with old faded photographs. I want to visually narrate this connection and debt I feel to all those people who would never dream their lives were an inspiration for artwork |
| Dapper Dan |
| Tom |
| Cardinal Batter |
| Jack and Isabelle |
| Gulf War |
| Book Cover Blazing Sapphire Press |
| Poster Design Missouri Folklore Society |
| Book Cover Design Blazing Sapphire Press |
| Directory Cover Design Mary Immaculate Catholic Church |
| Faux Pulp Fiction Cover Design |
| Rock City, Minneapolis, Kansas circa 1900 |
