For Tytiana Jordan, legacy isn't just about looking backward. It's about love — for family, friends, culture, oneself, siblings, and future generations.
That idea is part of "leg-a-cy," an exhibition at the Link Gallery in Rochester City Hall featuring the work of Jordan and 11 other Latino artists and reflecting the cultural threads connecting past, present, and future generations in Rochester.
Curator Adrian Franco said the exhibition creates space for Latino artists to tell their own story in a space where city business is carried out.
"I think that as Latinos, as Hispanics, often we could potentially shrink ourselves and our stories and our Latinhood to fit spaces," Franco said. "I think it's beautiful to have these stories and this art, and these many artists in City Hall, where families walk through, where people make decisions on how they govern our cities and our streets, and where laws are passed, and where discussions are had."
Jordan, a self-described visual artist, said she uses photography as a form of self-expression.
"I never really knew how to use my voice properly, so to speak, and so taking pictures and expressing myself in this way, expressing how I see the world, reflecting how I see the world, that came more natural than just using my voice or like writing or anything like that," Jordan said.
Her interpretation of legacy is on full display at the exhibit, where 16 of her photographs are on view. It's her second year in a row getting involved with the gallery at City Hall.
She said it's another opportunity to express herself and pay homage to those who have helped her become the person she is today.
"And it's another opportunity to practice my art, which I feel like we need a lot of those spaces and platforms, especially these days, where I'm sure a lot of us feel voiceless or misunderstood or unheard or powerless," Jordan said. "Art to me is the language of love. It's a form of resistance, too."
Each image depicts something that represents something simple but profound.
"When I meditated on what exactly legacy meant to me, what I narrowed it down to was love," Jordan said. "And so, I literally just went through my camera roll, and everything and anything that felt like love to me is what I set aside for this exhibit."
Of the 16 images on display, one means the most to her: a portrait she took of her late grandmother in her apartment in Pennsylvania.
Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Jordan's grandmother was raised in New York City before eventually settling in Pennsylvania. The image depicts her wearing a hairnet, holding a cigarette in her hand with a folded newspaper on the table.
Jordan said her grandmother looks comfortable and at peace with herself.
"I feel like she exudes so much self-love in this, and so much like confidence and peace," Jordan said. "For me, that's quite the legacy to leave behind."
The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
