The lady and the tramp

Artist explores the relationship between her feminism and a popular sex icon

Bicycling with Pamela, Kristin Nelson, 2010. Kristin Nelson
Walking with Pamela, Kristin Nelson, 2010. Kristin Nelson

You can find a picture of Pamela Anderson doing pretty much anything. Just ask inter-media artist Kristin Nelson, whose exhibition My Life With Pamela Anderson and Other Work proves just that.

Nelson photoshopped her own personal photographs with pictures of Pam to create digital images that juxtapose the relationship between herself as a feminist and Pamela Anderson as a sex icon.

The digital photos are set against Canadian landscapes and often incorporate sporting activities. For instance, bicycling through the prairies and scuba diving in a beaver pond.

Nelson always felt there was a relationship between her and Pam, the same way that many people grow up relating to current pop-culture icons, or as Nelson jokingly put it, “whoever is naked at the time.”

Growing up, Nelson was told that pin-up girls like Pamela were “not proper” or “destructive” in some way, but believes that these notions aren’t necessarily true.

“I feel like (Pamela Anderson) is very much in control of her own image,” said Nelson, who, during the course of working on this exhibition, has learned about many valuable contributions that Pam has made to society, despite much of the negative attention she receives from the media.

The Other Work portion of the exhibit will include some of the artist’s previous works. Nelson’s series of Drag King Trading Cards will be on display, which she said compliments the Pam portion of the exhibition nicely.

“Pam is a drag queen. She puts on her persona,” said Nelson.

The exhibition will also show some etchings of Winnipeg’s ubiquitous downtown scenery: parking lots.

Originally hailing from Ontario, Nelson couldn’t help but notice the ridiculous number of parking lots throughout downtown Winnipeg upon moving here, accompanied by Winnipeggers complaining that there was nowhere to park.

This contradiction inspired her to satirically document Winnipeg’s parking lots in the same way that famous tourist attractions, like the Eiffel Tower, used to be documented with etchings.

Constantly learning how to work with different mediums, the artist uses a wide variety of materials and techniques to create her work, using printmaking, metal, yarn and textiles, as well as the new addition of Photoshop for the Pam portion of her exhibition.

“I work in whatever medium best describes the work,” said Nelson.

My Life With Pamela Anderson and Other Work is on display at Aceartinc (2nd floor, 290 McDermot Ave.) from Thursday, March 3 until Saturday, April 9, with a free artist’s talk taking place Saturday, March 5 at 2 p.m.

Published in Volume 65, Number 21 of The Uniter (March 3, 2011)

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