About
A professional fine artist based in Virginia, Geissel creates award-winning contemporary landscape and still life paintings. An artist of note, she has been exhibited in two American museums – The Corcoran Gallery of Art and the San Diego Museum of the
Living Artist. Her work has been exhibited in London UK and regularly on
the New York art scene in galleries such as NAWA Gallery and The Jeffrey
Leder Gallery. Her work is consistently selected for juried shows and her
paintings are in private collections from Nantucket to Los Angeles.
Geissel earnestly studies old American and European masters to capture
their enduring atmosphere in her work. Her original approach to realism
has garnered her acceptance into the Oil Painters of America association
of artists.
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Geissel states, “My work is an homage to the feeling of reunion and cleansing
we receive from nature. It affirms the power of nature to change us and to make us better.”
ARTIST STATEMENT
A tour of my portfolio is a visual passage, enveloping the viewer in sunlit meadows, frozen storm clouds, and drenched blooms. My recent body of work is inspired by the delicate and ephemeral form of flowers. The flower is my metaphor for the primordial life force – eternal and present in every moment. I use fresh, immediate brush strokes to portray a truth that lies somewhere between realism and abstraction. In each piece there is a feeling of hidden forces, of something just out of reach. Strong light and shadow are juxtaposed, letting us feel that each flower may reveal a timeless and beautiful truth. Light emerges triumphantly from darkness, conveying a feeling of wonder that is untouched by time or decay. My paintings are a meditation on the inherent joy in ordinary things – a delicate petal, a curling leaf, an opening bud. They affirm the power of nature to raise our consciousness to higher states of being.
I am a self-taught artist, following the methods and approaches of old-world painters. I value intimacy with materials and make my own oil paint using old master ingredients and recipes. These archival and historical materials produce a luminosity in the works that capture the eye of the viewer. My use of a limited palette creates an envelope of light around and within my subject. Layers of thick paint are combined with thin, high chroma washes of color, almost using oil paint as transparent watercolor.
SELECTED EXHIBITS
MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
* Corcoran Gallery of Art. July 7, 2010 – August 1, 2010, “Sensory Overload,” Washington, DC 20006.
​​​​​​​​* San Diego Art Institute, Museum of the Living Artist. April 16, 2011 – May 29, 2011, “51st International Exhibition,” San Diego 92010.
* San Diego Art Institute, Museum of the Living Artist. April 7, 2013 – May 26, 2013, “52st International Exhibition,” San Diego 92010.
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GALLERY REPRESENTATION
Findings Gallery. Lynchburg, VA. findingsart.com
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SOLO EXHIBITIONS
* Decor Gallery. October 5, 2012 – October 28, 2012, “Water and Flowers: Mysterious Beauty,” Richmond, VA.
* Wohlfarth Galleries. March 17, 2012 – May 1, 2012, “New Works,” Washington, DC.
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SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
* Findings Gallery. June 1, 2025 – August 30, 2025, “Florals,” Lynchburg, VA.
* Glave Kocen Gallery. January 3, 2024 – February 9, 2024, “Small Works,” Richmond, VA.
* Jeffrey Leder Gallery. August 1, 2015 – September 1, 2015, “New Works,” NY, NY.
* L.A. Center for Digital Art. December 8, 2011 – December 30, 2011, “Snap To Grid,” LA, CA.
* Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery. “Open Works,” October 14, 2011 – October 20, 2011, Washington, DC.
* Brick Lane Gallery. May 10, 2011 – May 23, 2011, “Art in Mind Exhibition,” London, UK.
* L.A. Center for Digital Art. November 11, 2010 – December 4, 2010, “Snap To Grid,” LA, CA.
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AWARDS
* Finalist, 2012, ESSIE Award
* Honorable Mention, 2010, National Juried Exhibit, Small Wonders, Maryland Federation of Art.
* Honorable Mention, 1993, Emerging Artists Exhibit, Maryland Federation of Art.
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EDUCATION
B.A. 1995, Washington College; Chestertown, MD
Ph.D. 2003, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
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MEMBERSHIPS
Oil Painters of America. Associate Member
Del Ray Artisans. Member and Instructor
SELECTED JURIED SHOWS
SELECTED JURIED SHOWS
* National Juried Exhibition. Small Wonders, Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, MD. December 4, 2025- December 28, 2025.
* International Juried Exhibition. International Painting NYC III, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, NY, NY. February 23, 2014- March 23, 2014.
​​* International Juried Exhibition. Photographic Being, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, NY, NY. December 15, 2013- January 12, 2014.
* National Juried Exhibition. Strokes of Genius, Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, MD. November 1, 2013-November 23, 2013.
* ​National Juried Exhibition. 2013 Biennale, National Juried All-Media Exhibition, The Walter Greer Gallery, Hilton Head Island, SC. May 3, 2013 - May 31, 2013.
* International Juried Exhibition. ESSIE Awards, Gallore Gallery, Middleton, CT. August 2, 2012- August 31, 2012.
* International Juried Exhibition. Art on Paper NYC, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, NY, NY. June 24, 2012- July 15, 2012.
* International Juried Exhibition. International Painting NYC, Jeffrey Leder Gallery, NY, NY. January 8, 2012- February 15, 2012.
* International Juried Exhibition. In the Electron Salon, L.A. Center for Digital Art, LA, CA. October 13, 2011 – November 5, 2011.
* Small Works, NAWA, 80 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1405. Chelsea, NY. February 2, 2011 – February 25, 2011.
​* National Juried Exhibition. Small Works, NAWA, 80 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1405. Chelsea, NY. February 12, 2010 - March 9, 2010.
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