Student spotlight: Autumn Nelson

Autumn Nelson is a painting B.F.A, class of 2021.

“I use symbols and language as vehicles for my message. In this series, I work with concepts of the father: breaking down the concept of “father issues” and how it plays into sexuality. I look into the Black and brown home dynamic and into pop culture itself where there are extensive records of men preying on Black and brown women without public consequences.

For this series, I want to explore my adolescent memories and the sexual repercussions that arise from them. First, I look to the past at how sexuality is forced on a Black or brown child at a young age when her natural features are deemed erotic. Then, I look to the future and try to untangle myself from the assigned sexuality still while discovering my own. I have to figure out how to be a sexual Black woman while pushing back those connotations that were given to me as a teen.”