Sometimes one identity just isn’t enough. For the artist known as NELSON BRADLEY, whose devilishly sarcastic work has hung in several local galleries and in his former home of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, keeping his true identity as a more traditional artist under wraps is a priority.

But Bradley’s current piece, a gigantic portrait of former first lady Laura Bush made entirely out of dryer lint, is sure to stoke plenty of curiosity among local art fans. The piece, titled “Gone,” hangs in the members’ show at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center (341 Delaware Ave.) through next Friday. He spoke to The News about his work, his two identities and his unorthodox medium.

Tellmealittle bitabout yourartingeneral, what mediumsyougravitate toward, andwhatprompted youtodothisdryerlintpiece.

I came out of the Williamsburg art scene in Brooklyn. And the thrust of my work there was basically commenting on the sort of challenges that the modern art school graduate faces ... [ For example,] I started leaving these pencils at bars and art openings and places where hipsters would congregate. They’re just plain, wooden, No. 2 pencils, but when you pick it up and look at it, it says, “Shove this pencil up your self-involved hipster [butt].” And then it’s signed and editioned by the artist.

What about “Gone?”

[‘Gone’] is one of only a few political pieces that address this recently departed administration ... I’ve had this material, dryer lint, that I’ve been saving for two and a half years. Since we moved here, we actually bought our own washer and dryer, and I emptied the lint trap and thought, ‘This is raw material, this needs to go in a bag.’ Two years later, I had this huge bag. It’s a great palette that sort of moves from white to these sort of off-grays.

So here, in Buffalo, in the attic of a 100-year-old house, it was just great to set up some lights and play some music and dab her face together, sort of build her face. The only thing I embellished, the only artistic liberty that I took from the official portrait was I tightened her smile as tight as I could get it, because I knew that would have more of a reaction.

What’s the statement, if there is a statement, that the dryer lint symbolizes?

It’s like a nuisance accumulation ... What this represents to me, especially given the title, ‘Gone,’ is a cleansing.

Would you say your artistic effort is divided evenly, or tends more toward your true identity than Nelson?

It tends more toward myself, but Nelson is always in the looming background, because we live in sarcastic times, so he always has a voice, even if it’s just for an audience of one.

Maybe everybody has a little Nelson Bradley in them. Maybe even Laura Bush.

I wouldn’t know about that. I’ll be happy to see this gone when the show’s over. It’s creeping me out just to look at it.

—Colin Dabkowski