Jordan T. Robinson
he/they
Raleigh, NC, USA
Jordan T Robinson is an Artist and Curator based in North Carolina. Much of their work is based on community identity and navigation. Much of their artistic and curatorial work focus on advocating for marginalized communities. One example is an exhibition they have recently curated to advocate for the transgender Community known as transparency. Under their brand known as JTR Presents, Robinson seeks to empower people and the environment through these creative community service projects.
“Much of my work relates to identity, reality, and navigation. This is shown through portraits I create mapping out the unseen layers of a person. This also shows up in mixed media work. In this process, I am seeking to map out the ways in which we think, feel, and react to our world through our understanding of identity, the emotions that drive us, and the beliefs that feed said thoughts and feelings. It is my hope that by making these maps, one could navigate themselves, their reality and reality responds to them. This is an attempt at illustrating whether we have a say over our "destiny" or not. If we do, I suspect Identity plays a big part in it.”
How does your work relate to the theme transformation— How does the work translate joy into strength?
"Through this work, I was using memorabilia and personal objects that were connected to my story. I realized that while making art out of them to continue my story while also telling my story was incredibly empowering and it led me to have a different sense of self that I use to navigate my personal reality. I found this work transformative in shifting my perspective from the belief that I could control my outcomes to thinking that my outcomes is a collaboration between me and the reality I'm in. This was incredibly empowering from the idea that I have no say of my outcome which seem to be predetermined by my identity and how people identify me.
The statue I submitted is called the temple of healing. For me that Temple is the symbol of things that I got from my relationship with the communities I've been privileged and blessed to be a part of. Each object is connected to another person that I've had the pleasure of crossing paths with. In being in community with others, I was able to find personal healing and this statue made from memorabilia of those personal stories embody that entire transformative experience.
So much joy cane to me in telling my narrative through these objects. It helped me process my life this far and observe the journey to my own self actualization. I hope my work continues for me and expands to others. If nothing else, I would at least hope my art work helps people connect and build bridges with one another."
Anything else you would like to share about this work?
This can be an important part of the process, sourcing materials, or research.
"This was part of a residency in Greensboro, North Carolina, known as the Greensboro residency for original works."
"Temple of Healing", Found objects, 6'x2'x18", 2022