In the Studio: Jesse Schlesinger

At this point, you’ve had a long career making objects in many different materials for many different purposes. Can you give a little background on where your practice started? You come from a pretty creative family, and I know that they have always been instrumental in your interests and knowledge.

I’ve always been interested in working across a diverse spectrum of materials. This is certainly, in part, a consequence of my upbringing. My dad is a carpenter/builder, so I grew up on job sites—eventually working alongside him and becoming proficient in the trades. My mom was a teacher and a gardener. Though I wasn’t initially interested in helping, it would later become a key focus of mine through my involvement with Dirty Girl Produce (a small, organic farm in Santa Cruz). The decision and sacrifice that they made to send my sisters and I to Waldorf school is yet another source that exposed me to a variety of materials and processes from an early age. This collection of experiences lead to me working across materials in the way that I do, a distinguishing aspect of my practice.

As someone who works between “fine art” and design, do you try to separate these two practices, or does that just happen organically? Does one inform the other, and how are they different?

I wrestled with questions around the distinctions between art and design in my work for years but eventually realized that this line of reasoning simply doesn’t hold the weight that it did previously. There are aspects of what I do that fall into this binary and they can be very different modes of approaching the work, but I try not to dwell on it. Each informs the other, often in unexpected ways. On occasion I consider these separate distinctions as related to ‘function’ but that opens up a longer conversation…

I have watched your work and the way you work evolve over many years. What are some milestones in this process that have led to where you are now?

It has been an absolute privilege to have enjoyed the long friendship we’ve had, and I’m very grateful for the dialogue that we’ve shared because of it. I don’t think much in terms of milestones but, in addition to the previously mentioned experiences from my upbringing, some of the experiences that inform where I am today include my time as an undergraduate student at CCA(C), work in traditional Japanese timber framing with Paul Discoe, designing Bar Tartine for Chad Robertson, my extensive travels in Japan (especially via my JUSFC fellowships), public art opportunities for the city of San Francisco, and more recently the opportunity to work with Anthony Meier (my gallery in the Bay Area) and FUMI (my gallery in London).

You founded Joye, a studio dedicated to your design work and functional objects, a few years ago. What prompted that decision and has it changed the way you view your work?

Joye, my mother’s maiden name, came out of a desire to develop smaller objects for the home and to experiment at a smaller scale. Some of these I was already making for friends, cutting boards, bread boards, candleholders, etc, and it felt like there might be an opportunity to have these objects from the studio available to a broader audience and a more affordable price point.

Collaboration and community have always been central to your practice. What does this provide you, and do you see it changing in the future?

Collaboration is critical to the work that I do, from the team that helps me in the studio to the excellent fabricators I work with. I couldn’t achieve what I do without them, and I do my best to treat them with the utmost care and respect. This stems, in part, from my experience growing up on job sites with my dad and recognizing the value of labor and the valuable contribution of every individual to an overall project. As for community, I think of my relationships and friendships as fundamental and do my best to show up to stay engaged.

Like many of us at Commune, you have a deep connection to Japan and its history of craft. Is there a particular experience or artisan that ignited this connection?

I think my interest in Japan originated from my father’s interest in Frank Lloyd Wright’s work there, as well as the influence of Zen perspectives in the writing of authors like Gary Snyder—a household name growing up. Many years later I would be lucky to travel extensively in Japan, first at the invitation of my friend Kai Hikiji and later with Shin Nakahara & Aya Shimizu’s generosity as a JUSFC fellow. The artists, designers, and craftspeople that shared their studios with me or influenced me are far too numerous to list.

What was your first project with Commune?

Though Roman and I traveled in Japan, I think my first project with commune was the redwood chair that’s now regularly featured in their projects.

Do you have any projects on the horizon that you are excited about?

I’m finalizing designs for a permanent public art installation that will be installed near SFMOMA in September. I’m very excited about that one! Additionally, I have a long list of commissions I’m working on, both in sculpture and design—mostly for private clients. The studio really feels like it’s humming along and expanding in very exciting ways. I am immensely grateful for all these opportunities.


Interview by David Kasprzak