The Art of Becoming Yourself: A Conversation With Jordan Daniele
What does it mean to be an artist?
That was the all-encompassing question that drove the direction of this story from the beginning.
I set out to understand this complex idea about how art - and painting in particular - was this highly intentional process where every stroke was a calculated moment, but as I spoke to 26-year-old Montreal artist, Jordan Daniele, I realized how naïve I had been.
I first connected with Jordan in the early months of 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. I was preparing to release a new song with my videographer, and we needed album cover art. Having seen some of Jordan’s work on Instagram, I was instantly drawn to both the aesthetics, and the emotional expression in his paintings.
His work was abstract in a way that wasn’t boastful, and each piece felt like a unique encapsulation of the human experience.
Jordan: “I started painting like a year and a half before COVID. In high school, I was more into photography and film, and then in CEGEP I was doing a lot of photography. I have the eye for photography, but everything computer wise — forget it. I ended up taking a lot of art history classes, and I found all those classes super fascinating.”
“I didn’t have too much knowledge on fine arts at the time. But learning about all these different artists and different ways to express themselves — and tell stories — was really captivating. It was nice to see that art didn’t have to just be about realism. Seeing abstraction, expressionism, naturalism combined and all that. Just a whole different way to self-express.”
The album cover art for my song ‘Mac Miller’, featuring Jordan’s ‘The Invasion’ painting (2021)
The work I acquired from Jordan was called The Invasion; A colourful abstract portrait of a personified figure in a chaotic state, seemingly running away from something in a deep-dark backdrop.
To me, the work portrayed a sense of confusion; Trying to navigate a cluttered mind in an uncomfortable or unfamiliar environment. It was the perfect visualization for what my 2021 song, Mac Miller represented. Mental health awareness, managing feelings of isolation, and seeking inspiration in new places.
To this day, I call the work Busy-Head, and it hangs in my office-space as a symbol of what I’ve accomplished both creatively, and personally. The mood of the work has evolved for me over the years. What was once a piece that I felt I could relate to in the moment, now feels much more like a memorable piece of my life, something with sentimental value that I can look at, and feel connected to.
Like a trophy.
‘The rain cries goodbye’
by Jordan Daniele
We can read into all the cliches: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, “art is subjective”, “art is whatever you make it to be”, but the most important thing I find in Jordan’s work, is the authenticity it exudes. No two of Jordan’s paintings are alike, and in every work, you can see the way his various inspirations manifest through each layer of paint.
The more time I spent around his work, the more I realized that same atmosphere extended far beyond the canvas. His social media is a tasteful mosaic of his artworks, post-punk music collections, and vintage fashion aesthetics. Together they begin to paint a clearer picture of the creative world he exists within.
Jordan: “It’s weird because when I first studied painting, it was very much — ‘there’s no subject’. Just expressive. Throwing your feelings down. Over time, especially when I moved into the city, my art kind of shifted a bit.”
“I’m really into, like, sad CDs. That whole anxious sounding atmosphere. My favourite band is The Cure, and the emotion is all over the place with that music. Like, it could be sad or immersive. There’s a very dark view to it, but it’s also atmospheric, which is something that I try to capture in my artwork. The way I paint isn’t necessarily planned out. The only thing I have control over is the music that I listen to in the studio. Post-punk bands, movie soundtracks, stuff that sounds dreamy. The atmosphere fuels the art.”
As a creative myself, I am always looking to understand how other creators find their inspiration. While the atmosphere may fuel the art, the inspiration must first fuel the atmosphere. Some days you wake up knowing exactly what you want to pursue, and others you sit there trying to force the creation out of you. Every artist reaches a point where they stop, and think to themselves, “well, now what do I do?”.
Jordan: “I feel like getting to know yourself is the biggest thing. When I was beginning University during COVID - especially when I first moved to Montreal out of my parents’ house - I didn’t have a lot of friends. So, I spent a lot of time alone with myself. You kind of realize what you like, and how you like things to be. You really get a good perspective on yourself, and kind of just learn it as you go. Not necessarily looking for inspiration. It kind of just comes at you. I feel like if you’re actively looking for inspiration, yes, it can find you. But it’ll mostly just happen when it happens.”
‘Running Around Without a Face’
by Jordan Daniele
In the art world, it becomes easy to lose sight of your own voice. Influence begins to outweigh instinct, and the line between inspiration and imitation slowly starts to disappear. Visual arts are harshly critiqued, and the communities built around creativity can sometimes feel restrictive.
At the same time, there is a sense of vitality to community. It’s a place where you can connect with people, elaborate on new techniques, and find new outlets of expression.
‘But not the eyes I knew’
by Jordan Daniele
For Jordan, limitation opened the door for opportunity, and with that opportunity came new ways for him to transform his artistic talent. He doesn’t see art as some sacred ritual, but rather as a process of self-discovery and trial-and-error.
With his recent venture into the tattooing space, I have been amazed by his ability to translate his unique style and expressionism into tattoos, an artform where the skillset becomes more refined, and the stakes - for both the artist, and the customer - are significantly higher. Suddenly, his work isn’t just hanging on gallery walls anymore, it’s walking around Montreal as permanent pieces of self-expression.
Jordan: “It’s weird because I feel kind of disconnected from the art world. It’s both the most open place, and the most closed off place all at the same time. But there are no rules. Tattooing is a whole different thing: The needles, the shading; Everything. I’m not necessarily tattooing exact paintings, but I’m using my drawings and translating the style into tattoos. At first, I was just tattooing the figures that I like to paint, but then my friend Danick wanted something different. He was like, “What about a horse?” And I was like: “A horse? I don’t paint horses.” But then I did one and realized it looked cool, so now I’m doing horses, dinosaurs, cowboys, dragons, and the figures I like too. It’s really cool having people permanently wear your creations.”
Painting, for Jordan, is somewhat of a solitary ritual. Something he can do alone, at his own pace, with his own curated atmosphere. So, tattooing introduced him to an entirely different kind of vulnerability.
Jordan: “I hate working when people are around. Even when I was in school, I’d be in painting classes pretending to paint just so the teacher would see me participating, and then I would leave. I’d come back to the studio at like 11 PM or midnight when nobody was around, and then I would actually start painting. I know nobody’s looking at me, - they’re all doing their own thing- but I still feel watched.”
“I’m just super fortunate that I’m at the tattoo shop I’m at. It gives me free rein to experiment, takes away limitations, and gives me the space to try new things. And it’s great being in Montreal because everyone’s down for weird tattoos. Especially abstract stuff. If someone wants it, they want it. The sillier the better.”
‘Moving through the silence without motion’
by Jordan Daniele
As Jordan and I came to the end of our conversation, - walking around his studio looking at all his recent works - I wondered how he felt about his evolution as an artist since I purchased ‘The Invasion’ in 2021. He has since shown his work in various galleries, seen some viral success on social media with his friend Danick (i.e., ApolloRising.dc), and begun experimenting as a tattoo artist. To me, that evolution encapsulates exactly what it means to be an artist.
Jordan: “The work I’ve made in the last year or two has been some of my favourite work because I feel like it’s the most “me.” With art, you can’t reinvent the wheel, but I feel like now - with the themes, the descriptive titles, the mark-making, and everything together - it feels like my own thing. I feel like I’ve really figured out how to make my unique style into a complete work. Even if abstract expressionism already exists, I’m not saying that I invented anything, but the emotion behind it is real. And that’s the important part.”
‘No place to stop no place to go’
by Jordan Daniele
Somewhere between the basement studios, late-night painting sessions, post-punk CDs, and horse tattoos, Jordan seems to have found a version of creativity that feels entirely his own. Being an artist, at least for Jordan, was never about elitist processes, or rules, or complexity; It was far simpler than that. It’s always been about allowing himself to create freely and find inspiration in the people, places and things that are around him every day.
Our conversation showed me the importance of never limiting yourself to one space, or one style, and allowing for contradiction, because that contradiction is just a change of perspective.
And above all else, being an artist is really just about being human.
I want to thank Jordan for being so generous with his time, and for letting me feature him in this story. It was a true pleasure to be able to spend an afternoon with him chatting and getting to experience more of his artworks up-close.
You can support Jordan by heading to his website: https://www.artistjordandaniele.com/store where many of his works are up for sale.
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