His influences include post-impressionist and surrealist painters and contemporary illustrators such as Ralph Steadman. Jesse lives with bipolar disorder as well as chronic physical illnesses. Despite having prosopagnosia (face-blindness), he enjoys creating pop art–style portraits and expressing himself through self-portraiture. Much of his work explores themes of health, body, and gender. Jesse divides his time between home and various hospitals. He began painting as creative therapy during an inpatient psychiatric admission.