42
• October J a. 2002
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P
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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.
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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.