Character Sculptor Jessica Geiger

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Reviews and Press Coverage

Jessica's work is featured in Deaf Artists in America: Colonial to Contemporary, a book by Deborah M. Sonnenstrahl. The book features numerous high-quality color illustrations throughout and is published by DawnSignPress (www.dawnsign.com).

The June 2003 issue of The Seattle Sinner devoted a full page to Jessica and her sculptures. Special thanks to Chuck Foster for the great article!

Excerpt from art critic Cary Smith's column in
The News Tribune, February 20, 1997:

Also at Commencement Gallery are a collection of disturbing doll-like sculptures by Jessica Geiger. Wonderfully inventive and unique, Geiger's figures depict people at the fringes of society; down-and-outers, outlaws and rejects.

Carefully fashioned, the figurines challenge viewers with their arrestingly powerful social commentary. They are not pretty in any sense of the word, yet they testify to Geiger's acute powers of observation and deep sensitivity to her chosen subjects.

Who Needs A Coat? by Gwen Wilson, Art Access, March 1998

Addressing the economic marginalization of people is risky business for artists. On the one hand artists risk offending the art consumer and landing themselves outside the warm glow of the gallery, while on the other hand they may further trivialize or objectify those people they attempt to bring into our thoughts.

In Street Theatre at Brave Dog, Dead Dog Gallery, Jessica Geiger's figurative sculptures present doll-sized archetypes of people on the fringes of society. The scale of the pieces leads to an expectation of lightness and fun, or trite beauty; however each piece surprises with the power of its distortion and detail. Bobby is straight out of a school classroom, his feet lifted from the floor as he waves a toy gun in his hand. A bit of snot runs from under his nose as his angry eyes gleam from under the rim of his Sonics cap. The size says cute, but the energy of the piece is frenetic as Geiger captures both the inner frustration and the outer dishevelment of any child living without much attention.

Geiger has hand-stitched the clothes on all of the figures, a gesture that denotes care and again references back to the doll. Holding a tub of ice cold beer, Party Guy is ready to go out. He is dressed for a night out in his cowboy hat and biker vest, but his reddened face and eyes suggest he has already had one too many.

The distortion of Predator is the size of his hands. Hairy, they loom off his arms and both are too big for the rest of him, but this detail makes him all the more frightening. The knife he holds is less worrisome than those oversize hands. While such distortions make each figure more imperfect, more human, and more marginalized, the details further the intimacy possible with each character. The work of the artist's hand evidences a sincere empathy with those represented--even the Predator.

Excerpt from art critic Catherine Hart's article Carving Tacoma in
The Tacoma Reporter
, November 19, 1998:

Blending thematically, the 9th Street window [of Commencement Gallery] takes a new twist on outsider art with Seattle artist, Jessica Geiger. Life-like sculptures force us to see outside of mainstream America. By uncovering the pretty veneer we're accustomed to experiencing when we look at images of people, Geiger confronts us with the uncomfortable and humorous task of looking at those parts of ourselves we often like to sweep under the carpet of propriety.

 

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