Emergent Arts is proud to sponsor Nelson Guda as he presents a version of his Life as Canvas talk at the Ozark Bathhouse on June 14, 2014. Mr. Guda has presented a similar presentation for previous TEDx conferences. For more information about Nelson Guda, please visit nelsonguda.com.

Nelson Guda has worked in paint, ink, glass, steel, emulsion and electrons. He began his studies in art and physics in the US and then moved to Japan for three years to study traditional calligraphy, ceramics and printmaking with Japanese master artists and craftsmen. After studying and exhibiting in Japan, Nelson returned to the US where he worked in glass sculpture and architecture and earned a PhD in biology.

In 2007 Nelson returned to art full time and began “ROADLESS,” a project in which he looked at 60 million acres of little known wilderness areas across the US. The ROADLESS Project ended with a show in the US Senate Building in Washington, DC and numerous smaller shows around the country.

In 2009, while working as a visiting artist at the Archie Bray Foundation, Nelson conceived of “ENEMIES” – a project focused on understanding the way people move back into light from places of extreme darkness. ENEMIES began in East Africa in 2011 where Nelson brought people together from opposite sides of brutal conflicts in the slums of Kenya, the border of Sudan and South Sudan and the killing fields of Rwanda.

The ENEMIES project set Nelson on a path to make the actions involved in creating his art as important as the artworks themselves. In the case of ENEMIES, Nelson sees the act of seeking out conflict and resilience as a form of art in its highest sense of expression of the human experience.

Nelson has also produced work under several aliases and gives talks about his experiences and the stories that have come from his projects.