DOCUMENTING ARTISTS’ WORK

WHERE FILM IMMERSES,
PHOTOGRAPHY ACCUMULATES MEANING THROUGH FRAGMENTS.

RECORDING THE FRAGMENTS OF EXISTENCE

Artists require archives.

Photographs create a visual record of how a practice evolves - how decisions are made, how attention moves, how meaning accumulates over time. They allow artists to return, reflect, and build forward with clarity - not for nostalgia, but for structure.

For others, photographic archives can be a goldmine for understanding context that involves period, style, thinking, among others.
They reveal the human behind the art - how they lived, what inspired them, and the conditions under which they worked. It helps contextualize their creations.

KENTON NELSON

An artist in a dark art studio or gallery, working on a painting of a woman with a paddle board and blue sky, surrounded by completed artworks, with art supplies in the foreground.

Artist Kenton Nelson, 2015.
This photograph, taken through a mirror, informs his mediums of painting. He just finished a small watercolor painting and in this picture, working on acrylic paintings.
The longboard was his nephew’s, Tyler Warren, a famous surfboard shaper and designer in Orange County.

The collection of these photographs, in black and white, was made into the first documentary short film.

An elderly man sitting in front of a large canvas painting in an art studio filled with books and art supplies, with paintings of people on the canvas and a bookshelf behind him.

Kenton Nelson pausing to gather his thoughts on his painting, photographed in his studio in Pasadena, California, July 15, 2016. Kenton is a very neat painter - his studio has no paint splatters, and he always dressed well even when painting.

Environmental portrait of Kenton Nelson in front of his artworks and memorabilia of his father's possessions.

Kenton Nelson, in 2016. Environmental Portrait in the studio garage. On the right side of the image are his father’s items that he had kept, often becoming the objects in his paintings of idealized mundane items. The paintings around him are informing of aspects of his work: his early paintings about the houses in Pasadena, mosaic artwork from his painting, summer beach-themed painting, and a painting of the Colorado Street Bridge that he painted for the Pasadena Heritage Society to be auctioned off to support the efforts of preserving historic items. All items are as-is, nothing was staged other than the chair.

See more Environmental Portraits

Kenton Nelson and his crew on scaffolding working on the pasadena playhouse mosaic mural on the side of a building under a blue sky.
View of Kenton Nelson and his crew on scaffolding prepping the wall to install the Pasadena Playhouse Mosaic Mural,
Top view of grid of mosaic tiles being arranged into images for the Pasadena Playhouse Mosaic Mural

Kenton Nelson and his team in October 2016, during the installation documentation of one of his largest mosaic mural installations commemorating the history of The Pasadena Playhouse.
This 5-day installation was documented in photographs and with a final product of a short film.

The documentation process started months prior to this installation.

Kenton Nelson sitting at his work bench, working on a project in a room with vintage decor and framed artwork on the wall.

In 2017, Kenton started making Curations, a memorabilia box containing nostalgic items. The mock drawing and design for the previous Pasadena Playhouse Mosaic Mural was still on the wall behind him.

Artist Kenton Nelson working in a workshop or craft room filled with tools, storage cabinets, and various supplies.
People viewing colorful artwork by Kenton Nelson at Peter Mendenhall gallery, with paintings depicting women in fashionable outfits.

Kenton’s exhibition, Water, 2018.
The two-day exhibition opening was documented in photographs and as a short film.

Cover of a documentary titled "Working on Art" featuring American artist Kenton Nelson, with small images of artwork underneath.
Person drawing a design for a chair on a transparent surface, with a sketch of the chair in progress and small images of fashion dresses to the right.
A windmill sculpture with rusted blades and a clock face, set outdoors among trees with green leaves, alongside four photographs of a house, plants, a mural, and a person holding an apple.
Two men working in a room and one man polishing a surface near water under a dark sky.

In 2018 we collaborated to make a book called Documentary: Working On Art, which contains images of him working covering paintings, curations, and mosaic mural. This book accumulates the documentary photography that was done for the last 4 years.

The following years the documentation moved entirely in the form of short films.

OTHER SELECTED ARTIST DOCUMENTATION

Ray Turner wearing a striped shirt, is drawing on an easel in a room with framed pictures of people's faces on the wall behind him.
Ray Turner painting a portrait as a part of his population series, in a studio with multiple paintings of people's faces.

Artist Ray Turner, who at the time was focusing on the theme of humanity, painting a portrait as part of his continuing series called Population - 12”x12“ portraits on glass, 2013.

Metal Sculptor David Buckingham leaning over to talk to a driver of a truck containing old metal cabinets in a downtown Los Angeles alley.
David Buckingham in a workshop filled with colorful signs and art pieces, holding a power grinder, working on a large sign that reads 'POW! RIGHT IN THE KISSER' in bold, multicolored letters.

Metal sculptor David Buckingham in his studio, Downtown Los Angeles, CA. He takes old scrap metal and brings them a new life.

Group of people gathered around visual artist Anton Ismael in front of a large mirror. A woman is in front of the mirror, adjusting her appearance. Flowers in vases are on the table.
Three people gathering around Anton Ismael with a laptop, engaging in conversation in a cozy indoor setting.

Visual artist and educator Anton Ismael during the filming of Penerbang Roket’s music video, Jakarta, Indonesia, March 30, 2016.

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