Despite a tumultuous childhood racked by assaults, teen pregnancy and abuse that eventually caused her to stop talking for nearly a year, Sydnéi SmithJordan has battled back, using art to heal and translating her silence into creative expression.
SmithJordan, 54, came to the Cape May area nine years ago “for love.” However, when that didn’t work out, her ex-wife’s family “kept her,” and she has since spent her time depicting underrepresented narratives, from Negro League baseball players to veterans to female trailblazers, replacing the ugliness of life with beauty through her brushstrokes.
“The abuse took my voice, but my art gave it back,” she said. “For years I was filled with self-hate and thought nobody cares if I’m in danger; I was born in danger. I didn’t think I was worthy of love and thought God hates me, too. I thought if you said you loved me, you would hurt me.
“I’ve worked through those issues with years of therapy. When I moved here from Baltimore, I had never heard of Cape May. I thought my career was over. But people embraced me here. I never really had friends, but I have friends here. I want to give back to Cape May what I’ve gotten: love through my work. Now, I’m a total love bug.”
The internationally known painter is recognized for artwork and art series that celebrate aspects of American life and history that are often overlooked. She has seen her paintings become part of collections around the world, including in the personal collections of celebrities like Sylvester Stallone and Denzel Washington.
Her previous work honored trailblazers such as Amelia Earhart, Harriet Tubman and Isabel “Lefty” Álvarez. Her latest creation is a mural that greets customers at Taqueria Maguey restaurant in Rio Grande, where she drew from Mexican traditions and folkloric imagery for a piece intended to enhance the culinary experience.
In addition, she was recently tapped by the Montclair Brewery, of Montclair, to create the artwork for the can for the brewery’s new limited edition Doby Major Leagues Caramel Pale Ale, an ale honoring Major League Baseball and Negro Leagues star Larry Doby. Doby was the second black player to break baseball’s color barrier and the first black player in the American League.
She recently launched her Legacy Link Mobile Art Studio, a fully equipped art classroom in a 32-foot recreational vehicle, for pop-up art instruction and hands-on art workshops designed for all ages and experience levels.
She and her mobile studio will be at Airfest 2025 at the Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum Aug. 28 to 30, where SmithJordan will guide participants through hands-on projects while surrounded by historic aircraft and tributes to America’s servicemen and women. The RV also will be at Pelican Pointe Post Acute Nursing and Rehabilitation, North Cape May, in September.
“I believe in art as a healing power of creative expression,” SmithJordan said. “I believe that it’s your story, your history, your masterpiece.”
SmithJordan grew up in North Carolina; her parents were ministers. However, she was sexually abused by family members starting when she was 5, and eventually became pregnant at 16. She spent time in an orphanage as an escape from the abuse, beatings and molestation, but periodically would return home “to see if things were better.”
However, the abuse continued. “When I was 12 or 13, I realized that the beatings, molestation, abuse were not normal,” she said. “I started fighting back. When I started going to therapy, it seemed like every time I said something, I got into trouble. So I stopped talking. Instead, I would doodle, and art therapy became my way of answering questions.
“I didn’t think I would live to see 18,” she said, admitting she thought about suicide. “I thought God hated me, too, that I was not worthy of love. I had so much anger and hated everyone, including me. I thought if you said you loved me, you would hurt me, so I didn’t have friends, didn’t love anyone.”
When she came out as a lesbian at 17, her parents kicked her out of the family home and she became a ward of the state.
“My parents took my daughter to raise her, and I fought for custody after she was born, eventually being awarded custody of her when she was 4,” she recalled. “They wouldn’t give her back to me, so I ended up kidnapping her, and we were on the run for three years.
“One of my foster parents had been in the FBI and advised me on what I should do. The charges eventually were dropped against me because I had been awarded custody, but we were like Bonnie and Clyde, living on the run, off the grid, working all over.”
At 22, she and her daughter headed to Los Angeles, where she studied fine art at the College of Design, Art and Architecture at Santa Monica College under the mentorship of Ronald Davis, a painter whose work is associated with geometric abstraction, hard-edge painting, color-field painting and 3D computer graphics.
At times, SmithJordan found herself and her daughter homeless. She worked at a variety of jobs, from law enforcement in the private sector to security, from refurbishing and restoring old cars to being a medical illustrator and graphic designer.
“When you are an artist, you really wear many hats,” she said, “because art is a luxury business. You do what you have to to make a living.”
She went on to study illustration at Rhode Island School of Design and since 1995 has worked for both commercial and private venues nationally and internationally. Her work fuses vibrant figurative painting with deep-rooted narratives of African American history and personal resilience.
Her first showing of her artwork was in 1999, when she had one piece in a group show. In 2003, she had her first professional show. “I had a gray series when I was in Atlanta,” she said, “which was powerful, but sad. I omitted color in 2000, using only muted colors where I wanted color.”
Today, she describes her style as “pop fusion, blending traditional and modern styles.”
SmithJordan’s work has been featured in The New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Cape May Magazine and Visions Fine Art Magazine. Her international reach includes exhibitions in Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland and Germany.
In recognition of her work, ArtTour International Magazine named her among the “Top 60 Masters” and most recently honored her as an “Art Titan,” a rare designation by the magazine shared by only a handful of other artists worldwide.
SmithJordan credits a local family with saving her career and her life by showing they cared and that she was safe. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago, the family hosted a fundraiser, and SmithJordan was overwhelmed by the community’s support.
“People I didn’t even know came out and supported me,” she said. “Love is what people do here in Cape May. They embraced me, and I had never really experienced that before.
“I want to give to Cape May what I’ve gotten. I want to give love through my artwork.”
Today she has a relationship with both parents: Her mother has visited Cape May and met her family here. Her body is covered with tattoos, which cover the scars she received as a child of abuse.
“I grew into somebody who is proud of who she is,” SmithJordan said. “I know I didn’t do wrong and didn’t deserve the abuse I received. I am a loving person now, and have been blessed.
“My art is a story of resilience. It is a story of healing. While the abuse took my voice, art gave it back. I am having fun now.”
Contact the reporter, Karen Knight, at kknight@cmcherald.com.
