Two subjects I am passionate about are landscape and the urban environment. My Urban Cage theme began with memories of my first home—an overcrowded city where some people lived in small, cage-like homes.
Over the years, this cage-like pattern has become an important design element in my landscape paintings. More recently, my work explores the different moods and experiences of urban landscapes in New York City.
I create my paintings on layers of recycled cardboard, allowing the raw texture and imperfections of the material to become part of the artwork. For me, cardboard is more than a reused material. It represents the many layers of human experience within the complex landscapes of our cities.
Life-size recycled cardboard sculpture
“Urban Queen” wearable sculpture public art.
In 2014, I created my first cardboard installation, Urban Cage. It became the beginning of a recurring theme that would continue through my cardboard paintings and installations. At the heart of Urban Cage is a longing for a sense of home—and the question: What is home? Moreover, what might have been seen as waste became a way to explore the invisible boundaries of our urban lives.
Check out this installation on this video.
In the same year, I collaborated with a writer, Jessica Lynne, to create an art installation titled Feminine Lines in a Cage. It includes painting, photography, and interviews with four immigrant women, sharing their stories of finding a home in the city. The colorful sections of cardboard structures symbolized my interpretation of the four women’s living spaces. You can also read the interviews New York City: Its Women, Their Voices.
- Lani Nelson, Interview, “Constructing Home with Feminine Lines”, Sinovision.
- Lani Nelson, Interview, “Urban Cage-Hong Kong Revisited”
“Feminine Lines in a Cage”
“Hidden Faces” & “Home Not Home”
“Urban Harmony in Spring 2022” Installation at Fulton Center, NYC.
