Born in München, Germany, Jessika's formative years were impressed by the abundant visual and cultural stimulations of Europe. Her teenage years were spent by (and in) the Pacific Ocean, where she adopted the laid back lifestyle of Southern California. Currently, Jessika abides in Washington, DC, where she moved to attend the Corcoran College of Art + Design and stayed after falling in love with opera singer, Jeffrey Tarr.
Jessika's work is both neo-surrealistic and narrative. The imagery present in her pieces is drawn from her dreams and the collective fantastical as well as her interest in German fairy tales. Delving from the dark yet whimsical world of children's literature, she strives to create a narrative that is both ambiguous and theatrical. Just as German children's stories combine dark and provocative themes with seemingly innocent illustrations, her work contains a tension between the content and style. By describing the contemporary world in a fashion that is reflective of classic fairy tale illustrations, her images confront the paradoxical and question boundaries between dissimilar worlds.
Reinforcing the relationship between her work and the world of illustration in children's books, Jessika primarily uses epic watercolour scrolls to create Bayeux tapestry-like installations. By juxtaposing imagery generally viewed on book pages with a scale more familiar to murals, another level of exaggeration and irony is achieved. Though her two-dimensional work varies in size, all of her pieces are mixed media and use various drawing and painting styles within the same surface.
(Artist statements for specific projects can be found in the sets along with the images.)