Liz Nielsen’s work resides on the border between photography and painting. Her fascinating process involves preparing different paper cutouts and rehearsing her movements before entering the darkroom. Then, she places the work on the photosensitive paper in complete darkness, following a preconceived choreography of rehearsed movements. Shining different colored lights over the material's surface, she imprints colors that are then developed with traditional chemicals. Her process is a contemporary interpretation of a primitive photographic technique that does not involve a camera, positioning her as a pioneer in this field. Her one-of-a-kind images are not mere representations but rather luminous manifestations of abstraction, where the physical process is as vital as the resulting work. Nielsen’s light paintings are charged with metaphors for human connection hidden within her shapes. While she works in the dark, there’s a moment of surrender. Much like in real life, we aim at a particular direction with an idea of what we might find, but results can be unpredictable. We learn how to anticipate and adjust, but an element of the unknown is always present. Trusting the process is part of the result. 

The artist lives and works in Brooklyn and Newburgh, NY. She received an MFA from the University of Illinois, Chicago in 2004 and her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2002.