Jordana Rubenstein-Edberg
Jordana Rubenstein-Edberg (Social Practice M.A., ‘22) is a multi-disciplinary artist focused on creating spaces for community dialogue. She is primarily interested in how collaborative art practices foster cross-cultural connection, act as political commentary, and facilitate healing in situations of trauma. A Washington, D.C., native, Jordana grew up in a theater of the oppressed based program at the Atlas Performing Arts Center. It was here where she began to understand the power of storytelling to shift perceptions, build relationships, and create unity from fragmentation. As an MFA Social Practice student at George Washington University, she created the multimedia project (Un)Natural Divides which explores the different conceptions of safety and belonging in Washington D.C., as well as The Body Spectrum, a documentary exploring how the gender spectrum opens the door for people of many experiences and body types to be seen, heard, and loved.
Jordana’s thesis project, The Joyful Scar, documents her own double mastectomy, as well as other people’s experiences. Jordana was born with a genetic mutation that gives her an 87% risk of developing breast cancer and a 60% risk of ovarian cancer. Growing up with fear and shame surrounding this risk, and coping with the deaths of her mother and grandmother, gave Jordana the expectation that she would look and feel broken after surgery. Through this photobook, however, the artist chose to open up about her process like never before, and become the adult she needed as a child. “I accept and share my story. Though I have more visible scars than I’ve ever had, contrary to my fears, I am whole.”