Painting and Dancing Are My Livelihood

Emily’s Story
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been painting and dancing. For me, the two art forms go hand-in-hand. Both modes of expression have a history that has developed over time while still maintaining their relevance in the world. Both art forms allow the artist to express their deepest self in the most pure and honest way. They are almost one in the same, because with dancing you are painting the space around you with your body, and with painting your hand that holds the brush and the flick of your wrist that paints the canvas is a dance in itself.

While working on my painting series for my thesis, it only made sense for me to capture the movement of dance. So, I made large oil paintings of dancers caught in the peak of a moment of motion. My paintings appear refined from a distance, but up close the history of my pencil marks and brushstrokes are evident. By using calligraphic brushstrokes I work to capture the dancer’s momentum that leads up to a moment frozen in time, as a permanent recording of movement on the canvas. I paint plain fields of color as the background to keep the figure/ground relationship simple in order to focus on the energy of the figure. My paintings express the euphoria and elation that I feel when I dance.

About Emily
Emily Jordan grew up studying classical ballet, but currently dances with Maya Taylor Dance, a local contemporary dance project. Emily is about to graduate from UNO with her BFA in painting. Her thesis exhibition is currently on view at the Weber Fine Arts Building on UNO’s campus Monday through Thursday from 10 to 3 until May 4th. She’s shown her work in various local shows and hopes to continue to be blessed with opportunities to show her work. She’s currently working on a new body of work for a solo show at Benson Star Deli in August. If she’s not painting, she’s taking ballet class and rehearsing and performing with Maya Taylor Dance.