A Future with No Address
Acrylic, Gesso, and Mixed Media on Canvas
Laura Bernardeschi Nelson, 2026
A Future with No Address is a mixed-media painting by Laura Bernardeschi Nelson that reflects on abandonment, environmental fragility, and the uncertain trajectory of urban life in the context of climate change. The work depicts a city once structured for permanence, now suspended in an uneasy stillness — intact yet emptied of its original purpose.
Two small figures walk through the centre of the composition, their scale intentionally reduced against the surrounding architecture. They do not dominate the space; instead, they appear transient, moving through a city that no longer belongs to them. Their presence suggests displacement, inheritance, and the quiet human cost of environmental transformation.
The surface incorporates ground coffee mixed with glue alongside acrylic and gesso, embedding organic residue directly into the urban landscape. This material choice references consumption, waste, and daily human rituals, now absorbed into the city’s physical structure. The resulting texture evokes erosion and sediment, reinforcing the idea that cities, like ecosystems, are shaped and ultimately altered by climate and time.
Above, a charged sky glows with saturated yellows, reds, and muted greys, hinting at atmospheric imbalance rather than a singular catastrophic event. Birds move freely through this space, adaptable and detached, in contrast to the rigid architecture below. The city has not been destroyed; it has been outpaced — rendered obsolete by gradual environmental shifts and changing conditions.
Rather than depicting collapse, A Future with No Address imagines a quieter outcome: a world where urban environments remain standing but no longer function as homes. It is a meditation on responsibility, impermanence, and the fragile relationship between human systems and the planet that sustains them.
Artwork Details:
- Artist: Laura Bernardeschi Nelson
- Title: A Future with No Address
- Year: 2026
- Medium: Acrylic, gesso, and ground coffee mixed with glue on stretched canvas
- Style: Contemporary / Conceptual / Environmental
- Original: One-of-a-kind artwork
This work is well suited to collectors and curators interested in climate narratives, material experimentation, and contemporary reflections on the future of cities and human presence.
Laura Bernardeschi Nelson artworld and travels 