List Projects 34: Brittany Nelson

Brittany Nelson’s practice moves between the speculative frontiers of science and science fiction to surface hidden histories, emotional residues, and institutional artifacts. 

Trained as a photographer, Nelson often reimagines analog chemical techniques, such as mordançage, bromoil, and tintype, while drawing on extensive archival research. The imagery and language of space exploration have been touchstones for Nelson as she considers how contact—whether human or extraterrestrial—is pursued, imagined, or idealized. In recent projects, Nelson draws out the psychological dimensions of science fiction and literature, where projection operates not only as imagining speculative futures but also as idealization or infatuation—means of externalizing memory, desire, estrangement, and longing.