Liz Nielsen, Artist

Photo: Lucas Michael

Is that a wig?
No. People ask me that a lot. I keep my hair darker underneath and the top part bleachy.

It kind of looks Andy Warholian.
Yeah, when people first meet me, they’ll say, “You look like Andy Warhol; you must be an artist.” I think it’s because my rising sign is Leo that I have this wild and messy hair.

What kind of art do you make?
You could call what I do experimental photography. Right now I’m really into the way light travels to the Earth from deep space. I’ve been thinking a lot about space and the universe lately.

Would you ever want to go to outer space?
I would love to, but I am not interested in traveling there and back, because that part seems really scary. But if I could teleport myself, then yes, definitely. It’s hard for me to imagine myself getting there in my Earth body.

What’d you do for the holidays?
I visited my dad in L.A. I’m from Seattle, though.

Were you into grunge?
Definitely. When Kurt Cobain died, I tried to climb over the fence into his yard. There was a lot of security, so, no, I didn’t make it.

Interview by Alexis Swerdloff

Liz Nielsen, Artist