Jordan A. Smith
Bio
Maine born and raised, Jordan Smith has been making art since he could grasp a pencil. He began showing his drawings, prints and paintings in galleries while still a teenager; then turned his attention to stone, in awe of the possibilities of the medium and the technical challenges it presents. His distinctive stone sculptures explore the essence of the material, of a particular stone. Some of his earlier work includes water as an element, and later, exploration of the positive and negative forms cut from one large stone. Most of his work borrows forms from nature, the human body and abstractions thereof. Smith’s work can be seen in several public settings, as well as in private collections.
In 2021, Smith began circling back to two-dimensional work, in which he continues to explore his relationship with the forms and concepts that inspire him.
Education
• Maine College of Art (drawing, painting and printmaking)
• Bates College (drawing, painting, printmaking )
• University of Southern Maine (drawing, sculpture)
• Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (blacksmithing, sculpture)
• Southern Maine Community College- (botany and horticulture)
• 6 month Internship with landscape architect, Peter Monroe.
Exhibitions
• Danforth Gallery, Portland, ME. 1998 (paintings)
• Radiant Light Gallery, Portland, ME. 1998 (pen and ink drawings, prints)
Curated by June Lacombe, 2006-
• Hawk Ridge Farm, Pownal, ME. 2006- 2021, annual show curated by June Lacombe)
• Maine Audobon, Gilsland Farm, Falmouth, ME.
• Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, ME.
• Laudholme Farm, Wells, ME.
• College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME.
• Freeport Historical Society, Freeport ME.
• Thomas Moser Gallery, Freeport, ME. 2006-present.
• Freeport Historical Society, Freeport, ME. 2018
• Leighton Gallery, Blue Hill, ME. 2008-closing
• The Gallery on Chase Hill, Kennebunkport, ME. 2006-2009
• Viles Arboretum, Augusta, ME. 2015-present
• University of New England Sculpture Gallery Invitational, Portland ME. 2017 and 2018
Collections
• June Lacombe, Pownal ME.
• Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay ME.
• Cliff House, Ogunquit ME.
• Gorham Savings Bank, Falmouth ME.
• Burlington Harbor Hotel, Burlington VT.
• University of New England, Portland ME.
• Viles Arboretum, Augusta ME.
• Fiddlehead school, Gray Maine
• 317 Main st. (Music school) Yarmouth Maine.
Smith’s work is also included in several private collections nationally and internationally.
Artist’s Statement
I am inspired mostly by natural forms; their relationship to one another and the emotions they evoke. My work explores these forms and the space between them both, physically and metaphysically. I grew up in a small Maine town, spending a lot of time wandering in the woods along babbling brooks and stone ledges. Whether it is a stone sculpture or two dimensional piece it is the imprint of these primal experiences in nature that inform my work as an artist.
Fiddlehead chaise series Artist’s Statement
I did the first fiddlehead chaise/ chaising waves set in 2015. It took nearly a year to figure out how exactly to bring the first set to life. I am now on the 9th set in the series and it has been a continuous progression, each set has its own personality and each piece a different relationship with its counterpart. The fiddlehead form is something I remember fondly from my childhood and has been a constant form in my work since. Trudging through the woods, along the river to try to pick them in the short window of time they come up each year. They represent growth and rarity to me, something easily overlooked yet precious. There is also an unspoken code amongst this who forage for them to leave some of each bunch so they can live on for another year. These unspoken contacts of conservancy and respect are something that I hold in high regard.
The profile of these pieces are cut with a single pass of a diamond wire saw. This creates two interlocking pieces that are separated very carefully to create the two forms. Duality realized, yin and yang, feminine/ masculine, efficiency. Each piece observes the space it belongs in the other. Constantly yearning, learning acceptance, gratitude for being together, for knowing they offer more in having one another than being set into the negative space they once filled. Slow down, let go, take a seat.