Скачать или смотреть SANCTUARY Interview with 18th Street Art Center Artist-in-Residence Josh Nelson on January 2, 2026

“Sanctuary: Know Safe Space” expands upon Debra Disman’s 2023 piece, “K no W Safe Place” with the addition of a hanging roof surrounded by an inverted “forest” of knotted colored cords added to and developing over time, hung from the ceiling in various arrangements allowing pathways to the suspended black sanctuary space. The installation grew and changed over time with the addition of these hanging elements
Disman also engaged in dialogue with others inside the Sanctuary space, informally videotaping these participants’ response to the installation and their immersion in it, as well as offering “interviewees’ the opportunity to share about their own practices, projects and practices, especially as they relate to 18th Street Arts Center. These short-form videos serve as an informal archive of our present moment, the role of the creative process in it, and the support and sanctuary 18th Street Arts Center is offering to the community by allowing us to Know Safe Space.

Interview (Part 1) with 18th Street Artist-in-Residence Josh Nelson in the "SANCTUARY: Know Safe Space" installation in the Atrium Gallery at 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica, CA on January 2, 2026

Josh Nelson got his B.A. in Studio Art at Cal State Bakersfield with interests in a variety of mediums from ceramics to painting. Soon thereafter, he started a career as an art director for a fine art publishing company, putting his own art on the backburner. After more than 15 years in that industry, he went to Santa Monica College to study photography.

Inspired by a print, Perspective II by Ruth Bernhard, hanging in the bathroom of his in-laws’ house, Nelson’s studio work pays homage to Bernhard as his main inspiration.

Nelson is wrapping up a years-long project of nudes in nature based primarily in the Angeles National Forest. His photography strives to honor the human form in relationship to nature. Having lost his home in the Palisades fire, he is very grateful to have a studio and be a part of the 18th Street Art Center.

Currently, Nelson is working on a project dealing with this great loss. He sees this time as an opportunity to use art to heal and connect. His biggest inspirations are his wife, Meredith (a talented artist in her own right), and his athletic and precocious son, Levy, who both inspire him everyday to be a better husband and father.

https://www.joshnelsonphoto.com/
https://18thstreet.org/artists/josh-nelson/