Interview with Nelda Gilliam

Nelda Gilliam at Ave Gallery, Bastakia, Dubai, November 2007

Marcelo Lima- We can start with your background: for those who view your work today, what do you think it is important to know about your life and career experiences?

Nelda Gilliam- I grew up in a small town in Texas. I grew up at the end of a large family. When I was growing up, even as a small child, I learned to escape by disengaging from the people around me. I skipped out.....I was not present. I still do this when I am around large groups of people.....I'm not present. I become alone. I struggle even in my adulthood to be present around more than one or two people. This is a very good reason for me to communicate and speak to others about myself through my work. Letting my imagination and fantasy come to life when I was a very young age by playing make-believe in the shade of a tree was making art for me. It is delicious in my memory today. I like to think that I still use my imagination and fantasy in the same way in my work today.

In Brownwood, Texas, my hometown, I graduated from High School then on to one of the local Universities. I was an undeclared freshman at that time. I knew that I wasn’t getting what I wanted in school so I left my small town, and went to the University of Houston where I could study fine art. Along with my studies at the University of Houston, I spent many hours in the Cy Twombly Museum dreaming of expressing myself as I felt he was expressing himself. However, there were many circumstances in my life which caused me to delay finding my way. Eventually I rented a studio space in a large warehouse and made a commitment to work doing my passion for art.

Nelda Gilliam, untitled, mixed media on canvas, 136 x 136 cm, 2007

ML- How long have you been in Dubai? How does your work relate to, is affected by or respond to the culture and the place you live? In short: what is like for you to be an "expatriate" artist?

NG- I can say that in spite of initial difficulties, I have had wonderful experiences living here and have grown beyond my expectations. In 1993 I moved to the Middle East, to Saudi Arabia where it was very difficult for me to find contemporary art or, I mean, art that I related to. As far as finding art supplies, it was almost impossible. So, I began experimenting by picking up found objects, metal pieces, wire, wood and making them into small sculptures. I experimented with brown paper towels , small books found in the souk for drawings and paintings. I experimented with everything I could find. Finally, I found a group of artists in Aramco and actually had a solo exhibit at the Aramco Art Gallery with my found objects, wood wrapped with camel yarn, etc. This work was puzzling to most of the viewers, I am sure. But they knew that I was an artist, somehow.

I moved to Dubai in 1998, and at that time the art scene wasn’t much better. It was very frustrating trying to find supplies again and finding artists. The first “real artist” I met was Thaier Helal, but communication wasn’t that great since I cannot speak Arabic. Walking around in the souk finding bits and pieces in the shops was part of my work, my creativity. It was a lot of fun finding 10 kilos of jute string for a sculpture, 12 kilos of nails for an installation, wire, fencing, and all kinds of stuff that was foreign to me to work with. And to have a carpenter, a welder, a tailor was unheard of for me before I came to Dubai. The experience was good for me, and I learned a lot. Here in Dubai I continued to work a lot with found objects, did small paintings and drawings and sculptures. Everything was small, small.

Before leaving Houston I was working on large canvases. I believe that I began working small because of the space I worked in, or perhaps I felt in the minority, that my work was just too different from others, plus the galleries here at that time accepted only artists from the Middle East or Asians, at least, that is how I felt. Then I met Mona Hauser who opened XVA gallery and asked me to exhibit. I continued doing series of small works and some installation work. I believe I was still trying to find my way, doing all this smallness.

ML - What can you tell us about the present group of works in your current show at Ave Gallery?

NG- Fereydoun Ave gave me the encouragement to work again on large canvases. Before I moved to the Middle East, I was working on large canvases, so now I have gone full circle, back to large canvases and new inspirations.

I have done just that on this latest series of large canvases. I finally have the courage to work large scale again. The freedom has been exhilarating: making marks with acrylic, pencil, crayola, pastels, charcoal or whatever is at hand. The placement of color, marks, objects whether it is on canvas, paper or a space expresses my emotions and feelings. This is my language. I want to capture the attention of the viewers by the honesty of my work. These drawings/paintings on large canvases are the result of courage and loss of fear.

Nelda Gilliam, untitled, mixed media on canvas, 135 x 125 cm, 2007

ML- Besides the finished group of works being currently presented, are there other simultaneous projects you are working on right now? Or future projects already in your mind?

NG- Yes, I’m always at work in my mind, and in my studio. I am working on line drawings for an exhibition in Houston in June 2008, and also for a group exhibition in Gallery 76 at Dubai International Art Center in February 2008.


Link: Nelda Gilliam