Meet Jordan Binney | Painter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jordan Binney and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jordan, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I was lucky enough in my adolescence to have a pretty clear vision of what I wanted to do with my life. I grew up always being interested in the arts but developed a passion for it during a harder time in my life. It took me being almost at rock bottom in high school to realize that painting was the only thing I looked forward to in my days and the only thing that could encourage me enough to get out of bed. Once I discovered this passion I really tried to hone in on what message I wanted to send. Sending a message through a visual is exactly why I chose the arts for a career. I felt lacking in my use of language and discovered I could let an image speak for me instead. I felt that I wanted to do something impactful and meaningful and I found that communicating my experience through paint is exactly how to do that. As time went on and I grew into my adult womanly body I found that the experience I wanted to explore revolved around my life as part of the female race. This became my sole focus to try and paint images that challenge the social construct of a balanced society and try to change viewers’ perceptions of women as a whole for the betterment of society. So to summarize I chose the arts because I want to change the world.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
What sets me apart from the rest is my drive and work ethic. This is a hard industry and I’ve learned that you’ve got to have some willpower to get through. I know I will not rest until my name is out there and my art is recognized. I’m not entirely sure how I became so fierce in my passion for my work, I think in my adolescence I felt silenced a lot and like I didn’t have the right to my own choice so now that I do I’m determined people finally look, listen, and feel uncomfortable like I have growing up. I’ve really dedicated myself this past year to my studio practice and am painting pretty much from when I wake up till when I go to sleep. This dedication is how I plan to keep furthering my career and success. Of course, I have off days and times when I lack motivation but I overcome this by remembering why I started painting in the first place. I’ve also found that my hatred towards how society has viewed women in history and the arts really lights a fire under me and when I reflect on that it isn’t very hard to get myself to pick up the paintbrush again. My artistic career alone has taught me more than any other experience or individual. I want the world to know that I am committed to my practice and my only intention is to better society with my reflections on my experience through paint.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Since I’m so involved in the art scene here in Atlanta I’d want to introduce others to it as well. Atlanta has an awesome street art scene in East Atlanta Village and it’s super fun to walk around there get food and drinks and look at all the cultural history of graffiti and street art around that area. Atlanta is special for this because there is both older graffiti work and newer murals that have evolved as the city grew over the years. Comparing the two is always interesting. Another place I love to go is the High Museum of Art as they always have rotating exhibitions. This is a fun comparison to the Atlanta Contemporary Museum in Midtown which is one of my favorites and go-tos. It features local successful and upcoming artists and has a great community. If you are looking for a good and low-budget place to eat La Fonda is my #1 it never misses and always hits the spot!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
This might be a change from former responses to this question but I have never experienced a mentor-like relationship and also haven’t had much support other than “that looks awesome” in my artistic career so far. My friends and family are great support and love me so well although I’ve always felt that I’ve needed to step up and be my own cheerleader, especially in this career. Of course, I’m only here thanks to my family’s financial support but I emotionally needed to be dedicated to get anything out of my education. My work is so deeply personal and emotional that it is sometimes harder for people to grasp and see my intention which at first really discouraged me and made me question if how I was approaching this was right. This only taught me to be my own biggest supporter because I had no one else to fall back on. I’m now finding that my artistic practice is a healing journey for me to confront the things of my past and overcome them myself. I’ve always been a rather individual and independent person and I think this helped push me in my career. So I am grateful for my uphill battle so far in my life and in my artistic career because it has only made me a stronger individual and a more well-rounded artist because I had to do it all by myself. I’m proud of myself

Website: https://jbinne20.myportfolio.com

Instagram: jordanlizb

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyLyDRHYHWLTvLyGcRoGQw