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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 2002)
42 • October J a. 2002 JFïTI Mechanics that fix everything. Including your cons* PD X Automotive is a certified Eco-Logical Business. ( 5 0 3 ) 2 8 2 -3 3 1 5 M echanics With A Conscience MA «oprowd rtpdr shoo Or*«on urtfM 0€Q r»ptIr hcMy 4 S E c«r*fi«d Mxhonia G erard Lillie *5934 N .E Halsey » n.\ .T > '\ DENTISTRY & d m d . A S S O C I A T E S Treatment explained and discussed Teeth whitening New patients welcome 503 / 233-3622 2520 East Burnside P G LAURELHURST C larice J ohnston ortland artist Jesse Geisheker paints male nudes. I anticipated that during our meeting at Scandals, where his new series hangs through Nov. 5, we would talk about art, painting, maybe gender and sexuality. Pretty straightforward, really. After making my way to the popular gay hangouts hack bar and viewing Geisheker’s most recent work, I realized there was much more to this man’s art than 1 had anticipated. I was first stmck by the colors that leapt from the white walls— deep electric turquoises and chartreuses. The occasional surprise of something salmon. The colors brought about the feeling 1 had as a little girl seeing a tide p<xd for the first time. These colors, or the fact that these colors actually occurred in nature, left me feeling giddy. The same could he said staring at these watery blue canvases. Geisheker’s paintings of male figures under water are homoerotic in content hut also pos sess an overwhelming dreamlike quality. His mastery of figure painting is evident in his application of oil to canvas, while moving from traditional locales to more surreal ones. “Dreaming and Swimming” depicts a nude man swimming through an ocean of subcon scious images— some visceral, others erotic. One million shades of turquoise leap from the canvas, which, like the others, is surrounded by an ornate, kitsch-meets-Baroque shell encrusted frame. The frames, Geisheker explains, were an after thought. “I had intended Portland ga<y painter Jesse Geisheker to hang the paintings likes his guys underwater unframed. Then I began to ^ by J odi D arby experiment with building my own, taking pieces from old frames, casting shells “It is a political message,” Geisheker states. and pieces of coral. Now 1 see that the frames are “We can’t possibly evolve as a society if we an integral part of the pieces themselves.” deny the things that make us conscious beings. In “Dejuner Sur l’Herhe,” Geisheker re We are being distracted and numbed until we invents the traditional Manet painting of the have no idea who we are or where we’re going. same name and places it in a sexual context. We’re on Prozac, Paxil, whatever, because And yet his treatment lacks the sense of intru we’re told that it’s better to not go there, to not sion, the voyeuristic elements present in the deal with the things that make us human.” original. The feeling surrounding this rendition That, he states, is downright dangerous. is one of calm beauty, of green canopies and “We can’t have a revolutionary movement if dappled light. Being one of his most important we are cut off from ourselves. If we’re cut off pieces, the emotion it evokes is not surprising. from ourselves we will then cut ourselves from “It represents a process,” Geisheker explains. others, and exclusion is very dangerous. Exclu “1 was once nervous about showing this one to sion creates oppression, hatred, wars. Whether certain people. To make a painting of what it is a personal revolution, a political or a sexu excited me and feel no shame was liberating." al one, we must go about it in a conscious way." eisheker’s education has been made up of equal parts classroom, studio and travel. He eisheker spent most of his youth in New Zealand and recently returned from received a bachelor’s degree in painting Thailand. His goal is to make enough from University of Washington and attended University of Oregon as well as the Academy of Art in San Francisco. His inspiration, he explains, comes less from formal studies than the experiences that avail themselves through travel and, in his case, dreaming. “The underwater theme was definitely influenced by my time living on Vieques Island in Puerto Rico. I spent a lot of time snorkeling and painting.” Geisheker’s desire to bring out subconscious imagery in a clear way is evident. “There’s a world that exists underwater that many of us will never see,” he says. “It relates a lot to parts of ourselves we may or may not chtxise to see. Our subconscious and dreaming need to he explored in the same way. That’s what I’m try ing to do in these paintings— tie together the idea of the subconscious and being underwater." Becoming more connected to ourselves through dreams and the subconscious is an idea that sharply contrasts with the current epidemic of external focus: coasumerism, greed and a culture that emotionally and spiritually numbs itself with anti-depressants instead of working to understand real problems. .1» . W. r*H A , V -' money to get by and to have enough time to make art. “For this particular series I was clois tered,” he notes. “I was really absorbed in the work.” He considers meditation, reading and keep ing a dream journal a part of the pnxess that goes along with painting. “Sometimes I will wake up after having a dream and try to sort of re-enter it on canvas. Sometimes I just sec col ors, so 1 paint colors. The closer I can get to recapturing the dream in a visual way, the more successful I feel the painting is.” Geisheker cites Salvador Dali as an influ ence, which is evident in the incorporation of surreal elements in his own work that takes them to yet another level of otherworldliness. In both “Dreaming and Swimming" and “Shell Man Reclining,” these elements are alive and well. “W hen I was traveling, a friend sent me a book of Dali’s work. It was perfect. At the time it was the only visual inspiration I needed.” Geisheker works as a scenic artist at Will Vinton Studios, specializing as an inker and cell animator. He has also dabbled in music, as both singer and songwriter. Eventually, though, he says he “realized that visual art was what really drove me. I stopped doing music so I could devote more time to it.” But his varied experiences in animation, prop and costume design, scenic art and stage makeup enable him to continue doing what he loves most. Like most full-time artists, Geisheker yearns for the day when he can put all of his energies into his personal work. Until then, he will continue to pay atten tion. “I really feel that what I am experiencing in my life is important. Not in an ego-based way, hut in a way that makes me realize that our realities are much, much bigger than what we see in front of our faces. Every day we need to pay attention to everything.” J H J esse G eisheker ’ s pointings are on display through Nov. 5 at Scandals, 1038 S.W. Stork St. JODI D arby is a Portland free-lance uniter, graphic designer and radio producer.
