Born in Dunstan Hospital, and attending Cromwell Primary and Cromwell College, artist Jordan Turner has returned home, after nine years abroad.
Jordan, with her fiancé Michael Ritchie (also a Cromwell man), has returned to be closer to family, having spent time in Perth, London and Melbourne.
Jordan says, “My creative practice has always been important to me. From the moment I was old enough to hold a pencil or paintbrush, my dream was to be an artist.”
Her love of working in the creative space started in New Zealand as a body painter, and through her travels morphed into the creative make-up industry in Australia and London. Her art has been displayed in art shows and galleries in Australia and New Zealand, and she recently showed her new work, Empowered Series, at The Dunedin Art Show.
She has difficulty categorising her work, as it includes make-up artistry, body painting, mixed media, mandalas, line drawing and working backstage in musical theatre productions. Jordan doesn’t try to define it now – she realises that it is the creativity process that inspires her.
Jordan says time commitments are a common reason that people put their creative talents on hold. She believes that starting with the 5-minute rule can help them incorporate a new habit of taking that time back to enjoy.
“It starts with action!”, she says, adding, “Anything I can use as a tool to create, I do”.
When she worked in London, she used her time on the underground to sketch and draw small mandalas.
She was hugely influenced by a journey to India with her mother, Susan Whelan, just before the COVID-19 outbreak. “This beautiful country touched my soul.”
Since returning to Cromwell, Jordan has worked on the make-up for Shortland Street the Musical, and future work includes a mural for Cromwell, and make-up for the Musical Theatre group, We Will Rock You, in Dunedin. Covid restrictions have not made make-up and body painting easy, but Jordan is grateful that she can focus on painting, with art to prepare for shows coming up in Cromwell, Wanaka, Napier and Christchurch.
Jordan has a sentimental attachment to working in Musical Theatre, saying,
‘“My Nana and Pop took me to my first theatre show, Cats, in Dunedin, and I have loved it ever since.”
Jordan’s art journey can be followed on Instagram:
@jordanturner_artist
