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Need a laugh or diversion? Visit Scott's Mad World and enjoy free jokes and unusual stories. And check out the list of books by unique authors in our Bookstore. The site is low vision and braille display friendly. Visit: http://www.scottsmadworld.com

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JESSICA GEIGER
Artist for the Downtrodden, the Ignored, the Castaway, the Different
Mary Thornley
Words: 691
[Art Review]

Jessica Geiger (http://www.jessicageiger.com/), a fascinating Northwest artist, participated in two group shows in August. At The 100th Monkey Studio in Portland, Oregon, Geiger showed a piece titled "America?"

This work shows a couple with one child. The man, woman, and child are young in years but ancient in experience. They project feelings of distrust or disenchantment yet we sense they are united and determined to remain that way. The man seems emaciated; perhaps he suffers from alcoholism or AIDS. His hands and arms are knotted and massive, yet reach protectively towards the woman and the child. Her facial expression is fierce--as is that of the boy--while the man's eyes are downcast. Nevertheless his hands are much larger and more prominent than the woman's. He is not the usual rendering of a male hero, and the boy's tee shirt might be our strongest hint as to what he is, what they all are: redneck. But the man sees himself, inescapably, as a guardian of his family.

What I admire about this work is the underlying drawing technique. I think the artist laid down charcoal first in an attempt to find direction. Then she gained momentum and achieved this singular hard-hitting portrait. I am familiar with her work in plastic sculpture, and I feel this drawing encapsulates her ideas and her technique perfectly on a flat surface.

The next work is titled "Citizens in Hell IV," and has been on exhibit at Artcore Studios in Seattle, Washington.

Is this a dispossessed auto worker? We don't know but we know that something weighty is working on the figure captured in this sculpture piece. We've seen persons like him around no matter where we've lived.

Geiger's figures are raw, crude, and literal. We can catch some glimpses of this man (and the one to follow!) in the drawing above. This man could tell us a story of tears, betrayal, and hard work.

Why is our country producing so many persons like this man? Is it inevitable?--or could it be government policies? Formerly there were no homeless people in America. But now there are many. Could this man be one of those unfortunates? We sense that he could be.

Finally, Geiger showed a piece titled "Summer Heat" at Lowell Art Works in Washington. http://www.lowellartworks.com

In this tableau the artist has arranged an emaciated figure near a nightstand on which rests, among other things, a pistol. The man has his shirt open as if to get some cooling air suggesting that it is summer time. But I surmise that the title refers to something more than summer heat.

When someone is carrying a gun, this is referred to as "packing heat." This genial-looking man has two forms of heat to deal with: the weather and a weapon.

Perhaps he lives in cheap dwellings or is largely homeless. He knows the law does not afford him much protection. He's "a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do" kind of person. He is elemental, and he bears a resemblance to the previous pictured men: he would extend his arms to protect women and children although he cannot do much about his own fate.

Geiger's statement is: "I grew up in the backwards city of Spokane, WA within a working class family plagued by alcohol abuse. I am also hearing impaired, and did not realize until I was a working adult that the American Dream of wealth, property ownership, family and acceptance in the great melting pot of society is not readily accessible for people like me and other minority groups.

"The USA has high poverty rates and uneducated citizens despite being a rich country supposedly founded on equality and freedom. Our history of economic progress at the expense of the lower classes makes social change difficult, particularly because those in power are usually from the economically privileged classes. I'm interested in portraying characters that illustrate the contrast between the myth of the American Dream and the harsh reality of life on the lower rungs of the social ladder."

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