Terry Lee Nelson

Terry was born in Virginia and raised in Michigan and Ohio. When he was 15, he moved with his family to Greensboro, North Carolina where he resides at present.

His interest in art began at 17 when he took up photography, which has remained a passion of his ever since. It served him well over the years, including a stint as a portrait photographer, a return to college to study photography, and a career in commercial photography.

Then his disability overtook his life. When he lost his job, he took up painting after being inspired by a fellow photographer. He started his first painting Jan. 1, 2010. He has not stopped painting since then.

His has not been a perfect life. He survived a sexual assault when he was 12, and has been homeless twice. He has spent the last 27 years battling and recovering. Through it all, his art has grounded him, given him an outlet to express what he feels and thinks.

Though he lacks formal training, he approaches painting as a serious endeavor. He respects the materials and has perfected his techniques over time.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Artist’s Statement

“Each work comes to me as a vision that I must express.

“Art is motion—a restless, untamed force that refuses to be confined. Each piece begins with a spark of intention, yet the act of creation is a surrender to momentum, a dance between vision and unpredictability. Mercury Movement embodies this fluid exchange, driven by the paradox that infinity collapses into zero —an endless expanse narrowing into singular moments of pure expression.

“I chase the brutal beauty of simplicity, where nature and divinity collide in raw, unfiltered motion. My work unfolds in a rhythm of instinct and impulse, the canvas absorbing every shift, every spontaneous stroke. Each creation is not a static artifact, but an event—an eruption, a passage, a moment captured in movement.

“The unpredictable energy of my process mirrors the chaotic choreography of existence. In the absence of rigid control, meaning emerges—not imposed, but discovered, pulsing with life.”