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Artist Biography
 
Jesse Klassen graduated with his BFA from the University of the Fraser Valley in 2018. Since graduation Jesse has worked on his studio practice as well as towards founding the Abby Arts Collective, a contemporary studio space which officially opened its doors early 2020. Also in 2020, Jesse started his MFA at the University of Calgary with a focus in painting and is set to graduate 2022.
Working in a wide variety of visual media including painting, sculpture, and performance, Jesse comments on the contemporary religious experience and it’s complexity.  Through abstract and surreal imagery Jesse’s work engages in the art of visual storytelling, earnestly exploring a historical and personal spiritual narrative. 
Artist Statement
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Of Eden, Sirens, And A Single Passion is an exhibition of abstract surrealist work exploring themes of ancestral identity, spiritual expression, and mythological story telling.  The title of the show reads from left to right describing these three themes in relation to past, present, and future.  Consistently depicted throughout this body of work is the use of color, texture, and several symbols and images.
One of the common images present is a simple silhouetted figure.  These figures or Ghosts, as I call them, are minimalist by design inspired by the linework that is common in street art.  Each ghost is a reference both to our ancestral past as well as our ancestral future.  They serve two purposes.  The first is a simple reminder that we, within the narrative of human history, are not alone.  The second is to stand as witnesses to our endeavors and remind us that we are not alone in our engagement on these subjects. The title piece in this exhibition is inspired by several lines of poetry by Josh Garrels and J.R.R. Tolkien: 
 
“Trouble has beset my ways, and wicked winds have blown
Sirens call my name, they say they'll ease my pain, then break me on the stones
But true love is the burden that will carry me back home” - Josh Garrels Ulysses
 
“Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning,
Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?”  - J.R.R. Tolkien Lament for the Rohirrim
 
The song lyrics by Garrels tells the story of Odysseus trying to return home but finding his way constantly blocked by angry gods, mythical beasts, and temptations beyond imagining.  Garrels imagines the story as an impossible task, one where even the bravest of heroes falls short.  And yet, throughout the narrative, the abstract possibility of triumph remains ever present.  Similarly Tolkien’s work describes a hopeless situation where ordinary people are stacked against powers beyond their comprehension.  In this lament the speaker lives in a time where great heroes no longer exist but great evils do and so he asks the question, who will do the impossible? The task has been left to the ordinary people and yet, just as in Garrels lyrics, the abstract possibility of triumph remains ever present.
Inspired by these works, Of Eden, Sirens, and A Single Passion, asks the same question but in a contemporary context.  With all that the world has to offer us, with all the tragedy and turmoil “who” will dare to do the impossible.