Today we’d like to introduce you to Brooke Kesinger.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I have been an artist since I was very young. I have come from a long line of artists in my family, from my great grandfather, my grandmother, and my mother who is a wonderful oil painter. I aspired to one day go to Rhode Island School of Design to hone my skills, but when I graduated from high school, I was too afraid of becoming yet another tragically starving artist, unable to make ends meet by following my passions. While I attended Grossmont community college, I focused on German language studies, with the hopes of pursuing a more academic career through traveling, and teaching language. While I was studying German language, I was required to take courses on the humanities. I had a brilliant teacher, Professor Gareth Davies-Morris, and became so enthralled with his courses that I ended up with not only an Associates in German language but a second degree in Fine Arts and Humanities. Once I transferred to UCSD to continue for my BA, my parents questioned my direction and asked why I wasn’t pursuing the arts. After one quarter in the German language program, I caved. I felt like I couldn’t hide myself, and that I had to pursue my love for art despite my fear. While I was attending classes, I worked as a henna artist at Belmont Park. I was learning drastically different things between a place teaching me conceptual fine arts, how to make work for galleries, delving into deep philosophical and political ways of making, and another place which forced me to be quick, to be marketable, to draw what the masses wanted. It was easy to fall into a pit of ego as the tortured artist being forced to comply with a cookie cutter world, as I would show work in the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art and the following week be drawing anchors and infinity signs on teenage beach bunnies at minimum wage. I was always asked by my customers if I would ever get into tattooing. I was always too hard on myself, too full of anxiety and afraid that I was going to mess up. I was afraid of permanence and failure. It wasn’t until I was working another henna job, going to county fairs, following the carnie circuit, that my friend and coworker, Mia Dean, decided to make the jump into tattooing. After an epic tale of trial and error, she became the manager of Jade Buddha Tattoo and demanded that I come work for her. The answer to my fear of being a starving artist, she said, was to be an artist people need alive. I jumped in with full force, first keeping a part-time job with my friends at Pleasures & Treasures for a few months until I could feel myself keeping above water. So now here I am, a full-time tattoo artist and piercer, also learning the art of branding and scarification in my own time. I never even thought of being here, and now that this opportunity has presented itself, I’m finding myself utilizing my skills in fine arts, marketing, illustration, and these things allowed me to take to my new profession like a fish to water.
Please tell us about your art.
Though I can create in a variety of different styles, I feel like my tattoo work is slowly veering toward the styles of Neo-Traditional and Blackwork. My fine arts work focused on the themes of folk horror, nostalgia, hiraeth, and mental illness, usually working in natural and muted tones, with a particular love for the materials of fabric, crocheted items, concrete, and human hair.
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
In times of strife, art becomes more important than ever. In my profession, it becomes a way to decorate your body to feel more at home within your own walls. Tattooing and body modification can become a place of meditation, being in the moment and face to face with your own physical needs and limitations. With how much is going on, and how visible it is through the means of social media, sometimes you need to pause, find your center, and refill your own cup before stepping back into the chaos. I seek to provide that space for calm.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My work can be seen on Instagram at @CelestialFaunTattoo or at Facebook at Celestial Faun Tattoo. If you are interested in having something done, you can email me at CelestialFaunTattoo@gmail.com or come in to see me at Jade Buddha Tattoo, 4660 El Cajon Blvd Suite 203, San Diego CA 92115 (619) 542-9410
I also have a small clothing business that features my illustrations called Horns in Lace Apparel @HornsInLace on Instagram or on Facebook at Horns in Lace.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4660 El Cajon Blvd Suite 2o3
San Diego, CA 92115 - Phone: 6199335552
- Email: celestialfauntattoo@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celestialfauntattoo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/celestialfauntattoo/
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/hornsinlace/
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