California College of Arts and Crafts

MFA Studio Practice, San Francisco Graduate work expanded into sculpture, installation, performance, painting and architectural propositions. Nelson built dense, often costly immersive situations in which objects and spaces operated in relation to one another rather than as isolated works. Ralph Rugoff served as a critic during this period; the program also brought Nelson into sustained contact with figures including Larry Rinder, Matthew Higgs, Jeremy Deller and a rotating group of visiting artists, curators and dealers. His thesis proposed five large-scale projects for the Venice Biennale, Whitney Biennial, Tate Turbine Hall, Hamburger Bahnhof and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. The projects remained proposals, presented through large-format renderings in custom walnut frames designed to travel as sculptural conversation pieces.