In an interview with The Project for Women, Solomon says "I come from a family of designers, authors, tv writers, hat makers, pianists and shrinks.
[8] For undergraduate university studies, Solomon was accepted into the highly competitive Cooper Union’s School of Architecture in New York City.
Roth provides further context by indicating her work has elements of "the free-form splatter of Jackson Pollock, the staining of Helen Frankenthaler, the gravity-based dripping of Pat Steir, the hybrid smearing techniques invented by Ed Moses and the gritty surfaces of early Sam Francis.
"[1] Separately, art critic Kenneth Baker agrees and places her work firmly among the paintings of Sam Francis, Morris Louis and Helen Frankenthaler and further believes that Solomon's narrow strip series, "recall the marks left by melting ice in Andy Goldsworthy's icicle drawings.
Critic David M. Roth writes that the show combined several elements of influence including race car driving (taught to her by her father), her early experimentation in materials, the works of her mother, the late Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, and responses to moving to and living in Los Angeles, among others.
[12][16] It is her training in architecture that Solomon credits to her "truth in materials" adage where she uses custom made glass and dowel tools to either stamp or spread pigments across her mylar surfaces.
[14] Solomon credits the physical process of painting large scale works to her surfing practice and prior training in ballet.
"My growing up as a ballet dancer very much affects the way I hop around spaces and crawl over my table and push and pull the paint.
[1] Although both artists share similar influences, Nellie King Solomon, often rebels from the hard-edged Swiss graphic design and modernist work of her mother.
[8] In a review by Pacific Sun Newspaper for their show SUPER-SILLY-US, writer Owen explains "Solomon’s work is abstract and irreverent, and has a kind of relationship to movement and the body.
[2] The SECA Art Award distinguishes Bay Area artists whose work, at the time of nomination, has not received substantial recognition from a major institution.