Lori Nelson’s work captures abnormal adolescence along with the strain and strangeness of growing up. Her coming of age series Cryptotweens creates an peculiar world where skin is replaced with scales, fluffy pink lasers come out of eyes, and magical squirrels can be your best companions. The bizarre nature of the subjects in her work reveals how out of place one can feel as a tween. As if lost in an alien environment, each girl in Nelson’s paintings seem to be searching for something, their eyes full of eagerness and curiosity. Her subjects appear to be living in the fairy tale-like imagination of a child, filled with whimsical colours and animal friends. Also, we never see any adults present in this world. Due to this, there is an air of uncertainty that causes the viewer to be somewhat uncertain whether what is happening is good or bad. An eerie sense of danger is present in her compositions, but there is also a sense of wonderment an adventure embodied in her subjects.

Not just well versed in the technique of painting, Nelson also works in drawing and sculpture. She is an accomplished artist that has shown her work all over the world, from Brooklyn to Tokyo. Her solo exhibition Cryptotweens: Find My Friends will be on showing at Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles from May 6 to June 3.