Persistence on display: Holt shares illustrator’s journey

Associate Professor of Graphic Design Jordan Holt’s work is showcased in the William G. Squires Library throughout September. The exhibition opened with a reception on Sept. 2 and features more than 100 pieces from Holt’s recent projects.

Holt, who teaches graphic design and illustration, said the collection highlights the nature of his work.

“It’s illustration work,” Holt said. “I’ve got pages from four different graphic novel projects, one card game I illustrated, and some standalone pieces. My work is very client-based and narrative-driven, so it’s a little different from the typical exhibition.”

One of the featured projects is “Thesius,” a personal graphic novel series Holt began in 2020. He has published two volumes and is currently working on the third, which will complete the saga. The series will span more than 400 pages when finished.

Holt is also developing “Petrichor,” a historical graphic novel set in an early medieval world. Though still in the concept stage, it is a project he is both writing and illustrating.

“I like the historical stuff in general,” Holt said. “It’s a medieval setting, and right now I’m just exploring what that world could look like.”

The exhibit also includes Holt’s card game, “Panomachea,” which draws inspiration from Greek mythology. He created the game with the help of his children, who played with drafts of the cards.

“We sat around the kitchen table and sharpied index cards until the rules clicked,” Holt said.

The finished deck includes 84 cards with 67 original illustrations.

In addition to his personal projects, Holt displayed work created for outside publishers, including pages from the book “Blood and Water,” which he illustrated. The exhibit shows both the original black-and-white drawings and the digitally colored versions. Holt said he wanted visitors to see the process behind the illustration.

“Most of my work is very collaborative and process-oriented,” he said. “I wanted people to see the stages of how something goes from an idea to a finished product.”

The scale of the exhibition is intentional. While most library exhibits feature a dozen or so pieces, Holt filled the space with more than 100 works completed in the last five years. He said he wanted students to understand the discipline required to be an illustrator.

“The biggest lesson of being an illustrator is work ethic and discipline,” Holt said. “You have to come back to the drawing table over and over again. Some days you’re good, some days you’re not, but you’re still producing. That’s how you finish something.”

Art faculty said exhibitions like Holt’s serve a greater purpose on campus. Associate Professor of Art and Design Mary Matthias-Dickerson said the goal is to give students direct access to professional artwork.

“I think one of the most important aspects is having students see real artwork in front of them,” Matthias-Dickerson said. “Most of the time, when you’re looking at artwork, it’s through your phone. But when students can see the work in person, it’s different than having it mediated through a screen.”

She added that faculty and staff exhibitions are held once a year, either as a group show or an individual showcase, depending on who has a strong body of recent work. Holt’s exhibit provided an opportunity to display illustration in a new way.

“Usually in that gallery, everything is framed, but Jordan’s pieces are meant to be photographed and then put into a book,” Matthias-Dickerson said. “So we ended up just doing a whole different format and covering the gallery in his artwork.”

Matthias-Dickerson said the decision also reflects the program’s commitment to showing process, not just polished results. “It’s really inspirational for people to see, ‘Oh, this is how this is done,’ and see it in front of them,” she said.

For Holt, that process is inseparable from persistence. Between teaching, raising five children and continuing freelance work, he said he hopes the exhibition makes one thing clear: illustration is about showing up every day.

“You don’t produce 400 pages unless you’re extremely committed,” Holt said. “I’m hoping that by overwhelming students with the volume of work, they’ll get a sense of what it takes.”

The library exhibit will remain open for the public throughout September.