Bio

Kelli Nelson is a Minneapolis-based painter and educator. Nelson’s paintings rests precariously between reality and imagination, evoking enigmatic images of plant life, landscape, and organic forms. These motifs act as agents for deeper emotional and ecstatic states of consciousness, and human possibility. She holds a BFA in Visual Art and minor in Art History from the University of North Dakota and a Visual Studies MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Nelson’s work is in the University of North Dakota Permanent Art Collection, private collections, and has been exhibited at the State Capitol Building in Bismarck, ND. In 2019, she was awarded the Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. Her work has been featured in Design & Living Magazine and Inspired Home Magazine. She spent two summer seasons as artist-in-residence at the McCanna House through the North Dakota Museum of Art. She currently teaches Drawing at Metropolitan State University.