Dona Nelson

Narrator: Walk around Dona Nelson’s paintings and take a careful look. How are these different from paintings you’ve made? She uses paint, dye, string, a spatula, and charcoal to make her work and loves the idea of unpredictability. Can you see where she has let the paint soak through the canvas so it shows up on both sides? 

The artist talks about her process.

Dona Nelson: . . . I have an assistant that stands on the other side of the canvas. I have painted a lot of string, all different colors, then I take an ice pick, and I'll just randomly punch a lot of holes through the canvas, which is very fun to do and scary, kind of. 

Then my assistant. . .stood on the other side, and I would push the painted string―which is stiff―through the hole, then she takes it, and she pushes it through another hole. 

Narrator: Compare the two sides of the painting. Which one looks more like the front to you?