Jessica Starkeeper:
Gestalt (Artwork from the Alternate Universe)
written exclusively for Appalachian Jamwich
by Sarah Norris
“What did the hippie say when you asked him to stop sleeping on your couch?” asks Jessica Starkeeper, wire-wrap extraordinaire, asks. “Namasteeeee. Jessica and her friends Jenna Richardson, Frank Cortijo, and Aurelia Piatt at Gestalt (Artwork From the Alternate Universe) know a thing or two about hippies, too. They’ve spent the summer vending at “Rootwire and almost any festival in Ohio.”
Jessica receives all of her motivation, inspiration, and creativity from nature. Her intricate wire wraps, sold alongside various other dreamy paintings and colorful jewelry breathes Mother Nature. Gestalt (Artwork From the Alternate Universe) is a Locust Grove, Ohio based cooperative craft team that offers earthy and spiritual wire-wrapped stones. Being brought up in a spiritual community right outside of Serpent Mound, a historic site packed with spiritual energies and meaning, certainly plays a role in Gestalt’s products.
Jessica also receives inspiration for her funky art from nature because she surrounds herself with it – “I work at a nature preserve called Woodland Alters, I’m a naturalist there in the Fall and Spring and we work with kids about 13 hours a day teaching them everything about nature and how to preserve it. I love it!”
Although Jessica likes to keep her crafts playful and colorful, she makes sure to recognize the spiritual energies in each of her creations, and hopes her customers recognize it as well: “The properties behind the stones are the thing keeping us connected to the earth; stones give us things we could never imagine.”
Making sure to craft in nature, jam out to plenty of Papadosio (“Papadosio is my favorite band, hands down!”), and drawing incentive from her belief that “we’re here to play and keep spiritual connections alive”, Jessica and the rest of Gestalt are continuing to travel the festival circuit to find homes for each of their unique creations.
One of Jessica’s main intentions is to continue to bring Art the public, because, she explains, it “brings a sense of wonder and happiness… people look at a piece of art and their mind goes directly into the artwork wondering how this was done exactly… and then comes the appreciation and love!”
Besides crafting, Jessica hoops, loves to travel, learn, and listen. Friends and synchronicities make her smile, and if you ask her to describe herself in three words, she’ll tell you: “I Am Infinite”. If she could teach the new generation of emerging artists anything, Jessica would tell them to “be ever changing”.
Jessica and her friends at Gestalt are continuing to craft beautiful designs with no signs of losing inspiration. “I’ve just acquired every color of wire possible, so I’ll be working on some rainbow wraps very soon!” says Jessica of her future plans. You can check out Gestalt’s jewelry and art by searching them on Facebook or finding them locally at Tom’s Alternate Universe/House of Phacops in Locust Grove, Ohio. Says Jessica of her unique wire wraps and other pieces, “I plant seeds in my head, and as long as there is motivation, I have all the time in the world to make them grow.”
