Jesse Hale (b. 1984) is a self-taught, multi-disciplinary artist based in Nashville, Tennessee. Having worked as a violinist and electronic musician for most of his career, he began incorporating broader modes of expression in his late twenties, including drawing, painting, photography, print, installation, and experimental media. Since 2012, Hale has garnered attention through local galleries, pop-up exhibitions, and DIY initiatives within the Nashville art community. Notable exhibitions include 21c Museum Hotel: Elevate Artists, PANTONE UV X MOCAN, O’More College of Design Guest Exhibition, and Arts & Music Wedgewood-Houston: Fort Houston.

My work essentially flows from ontological investigation and personal experience. I often incorporate industrial or found materials made from glass, metal, and plastic which serve as both rational connective tissue as well as objects of contemplation. I make drawings, paintings, and photographs which tend to function as analogs to the preservation of memory, imagination, or data; but I’m also interested in the degradation of memory. Using an ultra-large-format camera which I designed and built myself, I explore this phenomenon through photographic and print reproduction. My chandeliers are the culmination of this specific line of inquiry. Recently, I have also begun experimenting with more time-based work, making use of a mixture of computer programming, 3D modeling, animation, sound-design, projection, costuming, and performance.