Human Experience: The Art Portfolio of Shawn Olin Jordan

A still from a conceptual art video exploring an alien caveCaves of Detritus (video still)

Shawn Olin Jordan is an interdisciplinary artist whose work seeks to unravel and examine the vast and varied nature of human experience. Shawn’s portfolio is, as such, multi-faceted, including performance, painting, installation, and everything in between.


A digital photo close-up of painted, crumpled paperSubterranean Circus V, digital photograph

 

I’m intrigued by Shawn’s recent project Caves of Detritus -- in this five minute video, the viewer is taken on a journey through a mysterious alien landscape. An accompanying series of photographs, titled Subterranean Circus, comprises abstracted imagery that gives the viewer the impression of moving slowly through a cave or some other interior. There’s a sense of foreboding in these images, but also of adventure and discovery -- themes which are common throughout both Shawn’s portfolio, and, undoubtedly, lived experience in general.


The front page of Shawn Olin Jordan's art portfolio websiteShawn's portfolio website, www.shawnolinjordan.com

Many of Shawn’s works explore this idea of a journey. Sometimes the idea is presented through esoteric means, and other times, like in her painted series Going, the notion of forward movement is presented in a way that’s almost universally relatable.


A painting of a figure seen through a car windowGoing 5, acrylic on birch

Written by: Dallas Jeffs
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