opening reception: Friday, Oct. 14, 6-8pm

“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 graduate candidate in Painting & Drawing at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. They received their BA in studio art and philosophy from Hastings College in rural Nebraska. Ismaiel’s practice examines desire, longing, and emotional safety through processes of self-portraiture and composite imagery; staging moments of intimacy through self-provided partnership. They have been an artist-in-residence at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, New York, and MakeRoom in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was part of the inaugural cohort for the Kansas Field Arts Forum in Pratt, Kansas. Ismaiel was a recipient of the 2021-22 Iowa Arts Fellowship at the University of Iowa. IG: @jordanramseyismaiel