Join us Friday, October 3 at 8PM for the art opening reception!

Light snacks, wine, and non alcoholic drinks will be provided!

Come for the free wine, stay for the incredible queer art!

ARTIST STATEMENT
Through self-portraiture, my practice makes critical expansions to the ongoing discussions of queer figuration and concerns for the individual as a subject. Using queer theory and futurity studies as the framework for my paintings and drawings, I examine concepts of disidentification and world-making as actions of radical self-care that are conveyed through self-provided partnership. Photographic references of interactions between these self-portraits are staged through processes of composite imagery and digital alteration, and are then translated to the painting/drawing’s surface by way of touch as mark-making. In doing this, I strive to construct a utopic environment where these individuals exist on their own ground; fulfilling desires, longing, and this need for emotional safety. It is through this self-referential method of working that my practice ultimately becomes a mirror for myself as the painter and a glimpse into the painter’s idealized fantasy for the viewer. Furthermore, it is through painting’s convoluted history that I seek to locate my position in figurative work and amend simplified narratives.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jordan Ramsey Ismaiel (they/them) is a painter and drawer living and working in between Hastings and Omaha, Nebraska. Having moved to the rural Midwest at the age of 15 from Washington D.C., their practice examines desire, longing, and emotional safety through processes of self-portraiture and composite imagery; staging moments of intimacy through self-provided partnership that are contextualized by their experiences living in the ‘Great Plains.’

If you have any questions about Strut’s Art openings, or this event, please feel free to contact Cantwell Muckenfuss at cmuckenfuss@sfaf.org.