Erik Geschke, Exchange, 2026, Polymerized gypsum, fiberglass, wood, aluminum, graphite, 18 x 22 x 3 in

Erik Geschke creates mixed-media work that explores personal and social narratives through oblique, often ambiguous imagery. His practice draws on recognizable subjects-humans, animals, environments, and cultural artifacts-but recontextualizes them to create tension between familiarity and disruption. Through shifts in material, imagery, and titling, he introduces an uneasy coexistence of humor and unease, where comedy and tragedy overlap.

Geschke's influences range widely across art history, political propaganda, and popular culture, shaping both the conceptual and formal dimensions of his work. His intention is to first draw viewers in through recognition, then challenge perception through satire, absurdity, and contradiction.

In his recent series Subterfuge, he investigates themes of modernity, hierarchy, and artifice. Referencing human physiology, industrial design, and historical art forms, he reconstructs familiar fragments of the world while withholding their full context. Through manipulation of scale, material transformation, and strategic ambiguity, Geschke disrupts perception and invites viewers to reconsider the systems and assumptions that shape everyday visual experience.