Nowhere Coffee Club Podcast Episode 5 With Spring Break Jake

Bend, OR-based painter Spring Break Jake creates heavily textured, multi-layered work using the juxtaposition of tropical imagery and colors with macabre, Memento Mori-style illustrations.

Shining a light on the all-too-often unseen and unspoken parts of our psyches, Spring Break Jake's work explores the reality of our collective mental health, encouraging the viewer to embrace the good & the bad, the light & the dark, and the inner & outer worlds that are inherent to the human condition.

The multi-layered messaging of his paintings is reflected in the many layers of each finished work, from the adherence of found materials for depth to the numerous coats of paint with varying thicknesses that take on an almost sculptural effect. New and recurring themes come straight from Jake’s own lived experiences with depression and anxiety as well as the many ideas and subjects he discusses in therapy regularly.

By recognizing the universality of our often unseen experiences with mental health, Jake’s work puts a special focus on reducing the stigmas around true vulnerability in the hopes of instilling a sense of solidarity and connection with anyone experiencing his works.