By james art 
SThe art of Ordin Owens is a meditation on the neglected – the quiet beauty, hidden in secular, subtle and fleeting.
Owens, who was declared a Renault City artist since 2025. In January, he uses photography, collage and his own spiritual practices to reveal layers of meaning in everyday moments. She invites her audience to see the world through a different lens.
Jordin Owens is the new artist of Renault. Photo/Edgar Padila
Owens was born and grew up in Renault, and her artistic trip began a few years ago when she found a camera for sale at Craigslist. Without formal training and a little other artistic tendency, she made a leap of faith, leaving the camera to lead her research on both the outside world and her own developing sense of herself.
“I was always aware that I just see beauty in the world,” Owens said. “I wasn’t sure how I could catch this. I’ve never had a camera or something. It was exactly at times with my friends or family where I would admire the smallest things – like a crack in the sidewalk or light in a window – just worldly things that people often ignore. “
She began to document her life – intimate moments with loved ones who quietly captured the essence of relationship and vulnerability. As her passion for the media increased, she realized that she could not work out the images she was attracted to only her friends and family in the frame.
She pressed to shoot strangers, but the change was not easy. Owens found stunning to approach the people he didn’t know. But her desire to grow as an artist made her reach through social media, which slowly made her build a portfolio of portraits, which became central to her work.
Owens eventually enrolled at the University of Nevada, Renault. She said that her teachers first push her to question the deeper purpose of her work. She won a bachelor’s degree in 2023
As she was preparing for her first show in the gallery, her work crystallized. It was directed from the documentation of the summary to addressing topics that are more conscious – such as a generation trauma, heritage and spiritual relationships she experiences with her ancestors. It begins to include traditional African-American spiritual practices-as a prayer and the construction of an altar-in life and art. She also plans to investigate her Philippine roots.
“Their presence is there,” Owens told his ancestors. “Through my works of art, I am grateful. I have the feeling that I have access to more knowledge by honoring them and doing a lot of research to connect to the invisible ones. “
Owens, whose first environment was photography, has raised a collage in recent years. She appreciates how to use loan images allows her to be playful and intuitive in new ways. “This allows me to continue deeper,” she said.
Over the past few years, Owens’s art work has blossomed with a career in the commercial portrait. Three years ago, she had a transformative experience with a group collage in the generator that would expand her creative language.
“We were unknown, but we created these pieces together,” she said. “What I liked most was the amount of images you can see; You don’t really know why you take these documents or what you call you, and you only realize it … (when) it’s done. “
The collage allowed her to explore her work differently, directing the playful nature of her inner child as she touches more wisdom.
“It’s full access to everything,” she said. “I have so many collage materials at home, I feel like I’m getting a stock. But this diversity is crazy. Allows me to go deeper. I have sketches full of different collages, and I am so grateful for that. When I come back to them, I see topics that developed months ago, and they still bleed in the work I am doing now. “
Owens’s journey as an artist is also shaped by a greater social context – the one that she said is sometimes difficult for color artists. As a black artist in a predominant white local art scene, she faces feelings of isolation and self -seeing, especially in academic conditions, where she is often the only color of color.
After being named Renault City artist, Owens had some mixed emotions. Although grateful for the opportunity and ready to do the job, she feels cautious of the potential for tokelism, which can come with such recognitions.
“I am grateful, but I would not say it is valid,” Owens said. “When I was in the academic circles, I have the feeling that I was often tokenized for the work I did, so these factors still weigh when I achieved achievements.”
However, Owens sees recognition as an opportunity. This summer, as part of her official urban duties, she will cut an exhibition in the Metro Gallery in the City Hall in collaboration with SaltA team that she co -founded to support local artists in color. (The member of the double spoon Ruby Barriene is also co -founder.)
It will also have two solo shows, one in the Northwestern Renault Library since March 1 and one in the subway gallery in May.
Throughout her work – whether photography, collage or curatorial efforts – Owens strives to create space for her community, honor the ancestors who guide her, and to celebrate the transformative effect that her art had on it personally.
“I’ve changed so much over the years,” she said. “I am like a different person from the time I started in 2019, but the achievements that I all had were internal. They all treated moments from me, understanding where I was when I lifted my camera – this really uncertain, shy man – to where I am now. “
Jordin Owens’s solo exhibition Beyond the matrix It will be on display on Saturday, March 1st, until Sunday, April 20, in the Northwestern Renault Library, 2325 Robb Drive. There will be a reception of 1 to 2 pm, Saturday, March 15. Learn more at jordynowns.art.
Images of works of art kindly to Jordin Owens