Appreciating the Broken: Jasper Sheff
We are often told that it is our flaws that make us beautiful. NYU senior, Jasper Sheff, took this motto and turned it into art. In his quest to "appreciate the broken" the onlooker is met with layered illustrations of nightmarish characters swaddled in apparently random doodles and lines. Sheff's warped world is a cacophony of Koon-esque bubblegum cartoons and a bad trip.
Sheff has shown at the SMFA gallery in Boston as well as at the Oxbow gallery in Napa, California. His work has been published in American Illustration- the first time at sixteen years old- and Faesthetic magazine. He has worked with artists such as Barry Mcgee and Jason Jagel, as well as at Ratio 3 Gallery in San Francisco and Poppington Art in New York City.
In his own words; his work "comments on the passing of time and the beauty of the everyday, warping reality, appreciating the broken, and finding composition and art in the mistake. In a comical and playful manner, his work also explores the imperfections of humanity and the reality of a flawed individual."
The message behind his work is refreshing to find in a society obsessed with the pursuit of perfection.