ABOUT
JordanRiver Michaels is an American artist known for his work in mixed media and experimental photo-based processes. This has gained him global recognition for his unique style. He has had the honor of exhibiting and publishing his work worldwide, including LUMA Arles, Rencontres d’Arles, Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery NYC, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography in New York City.
In addition to his artistic pursuits, he also serves as an art director, publisher, and art curator. Notably, he is represented by the prestigious Little Black Gallery in London, solidifying his place in the international art scene.
Statement
“ I occupy both public and private spheres; my work is politically engaged and investigates conversations on hushed topics. The work transcends observation through emotional engagement, inviting viewers to engage deeply with the experience. By focusing on past trauma within the present moment, I have embraced and learned to trust my own feelings and experiences. This journey has equipped me with a healthier approach to navigating life’s challenges, as I transform the complexities of my mind into tangible expressions through object-making.”
From the Artist
Working with a diverse array of materials—charcoal, ink, graphite, and mixed media—I have created works on paper that serve as visual translations of my subconscious landscape. These images emerge from a place beyond rational thought, manifesting the shadows and fragments that linger in the hidden corners of my psyche. They are both haunting and cathartic, pulling me back to moments I have tried to forget, yet must confront in order to heal. Each piece carries the weight of remembrance, bearing witness to the most difficult chapters of my life—the ones that have shaped me, scarred me, and ultimately transformed me.
The act of creating these works is itself a form of therapy, a necessary release that allows these images to escape the confines of my mind and take tangible form on paper. I create from the deepest trenches of my mental health struggles—during periods when depression wraps around me like a heavy fog, when OCD demands impossible rituals, when PTSD resurrects ghosts I thought I had laid to rest. In these moments of profound darkness, art becomes my lifeline, my way of externalizing pain that would otherwise consume me from within.
There is no predetermined plan, no sketches or preparatory studies. I approach each blank sheet with nothing but raw emotion and an urgent need to create. The work unfolds spontaneously, guided entirely by what I feel in that precise moment—the anxiety coursing through my body, the memories flashing behind my eyes, the desperate need to transform suffering into something visible, something real. Each mark on the paper is an honest reflection of my emotional state, unfiltered and unedited, capturing a specific moment in time that can never be replicated.
This collection is an invitation to witness the unvarnished truth of living with mental illness, to see beauty in brokenness, and to understand that art can emerge from our darkest places. It is my most honest work, my most courageous offering, and my hope that others might find recognition, solace, or connection within these raw and tender images.
