Elizabeth Jordan
Bayonne, NJ
Website
enjordan.com
Social Media
Instagram
How would you describe your work?
I have created a menagerie of sculptures that function as self-portraiture and story-tellers. They are very personal and speak to me of the beauty and grimness of our transitory life in this world. Their physical uniqueness tells vague stories that are open to interpretation by the viewer. Each work demonstrates how obsessive processes and multiple materials can both inspire and alter meanings.
What inspires you?
Since moving so close to Newark Bay, I often watch the ships travel in and out of the Port of Newark. The water is tidal and is a different color every day. When the tide is out, stones, bottles, ropes, machine parts, shoes, wood and the occasional water heater wash up on the rocky shore. Out on the water massive container ships are being made ready to load or unload cargo and travel across the ocean. Birds soar above or dive for fish. One day a dead deer lay on the rocks; I’m told that they swim across the Kill Van Kull from Staten Island. The combination of nature and the industrial world existing together illustrates the problem of how animals cope with living in a human world; this is the basis of my work.
Can you speak about your process?
Each sculpture is made by using layers of materials (wood, chicken wire, plaster, and paint). Starting with a wooden skeleton as an armature, a layer of chicken wire and wire mesh are formed into an animal shape. At this point I look for gestures that occur naturally in the materials - the curve of a tree branch, for example, might echo a wave or a shrug.
Next, layers of plaster wrap, paper mache or Paperclay form the surface of the work. Each layer of material makes the piece become less general and more specific. The piece’s painted surface begins to resemble feathers, scales or fur in my expressionistic, messy style.
Another side of my process involves finding interesting objects out in the world - whether man-made or straight out of the nature. The goal of these searches is to find unique items that can be combined with the animal sculptures, giving those creatures connection to the human environment. My stockpile includes cable wire, lumber, rope, aluminum cans, burlap, electrical hardware, junk metal, etc., to be used when the right combination of figure and object reveal themselves. It’s a hit-or-miss process, but doing all these steps gives me time to think things out.
How did you become interested in art?
Very early in life I made drawings, paintings and objects from clay and paper mache, as well as carvings using bars of Ivory soap. I think that making art came naturally, but doing it also allowed me to live in very private world. Coincidentally, my work today still depicts the same creatures I made back then, just in a more elaborate way. Additionally, we lived very close to New York City, so our schools often took us on class trips to art museums there. Those visits opened my mind and heart to seeing art as a great experiment, existing in limitless forms that ask more questions than they answer. Those experiences encouraged me to not confine my ideas to what I knew, but to discover things about my work that I didn’t know.
Do you have any favorite artists, movies, books, or quotes?
Carolee Schneeman:
“I guess my best advice is this: Be stubborn and persist, and trust yourself on what you love. You have to trust what you love.”
Phillida Barlow:
“It would often only be a couple of hours, or even an hour, quite late. And that moment of absolute peace and calm was very good in the dark. It also seemed a way of saying, ‘I don’t know what this is going to end up being, I just want contact with the materials. I remember mixing plaster, and a lot of it was mixed quite badly, but just letting that be.” In those days, she was working in total isolation. “No contact really with any artists and absolutely zero exposure, so it was like firing blanks. Meanwhile, I was watching the art world change, in the 80s, really forming itself into a hardcore art-world industry.”
And just a few artists whose work I admire: Bill Traylor, Max Beckmann, Albrecht Durer, Alberto Giacometti, David Smith, Petah Coyne, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Mark Rothko and Martin Johnson Heade.
What advice do you have for younger artists?
Prepare to put in a lot of time and do all kinds of work, both good and bad. Be observant, experimental and aware of art history. Being an artist is a lifelong commitment, but as the painter Charles Garabedian once said, it’s just a great thing to do.
Any more thoughts about art, creativity, or anything else you would like to share?
Not everyone is meant to be an artist, but they can still practice creativity. Try to be creative in all aspects of life.
All photos by Paul Takeuchi Photography
