I draw and paint figures, obsessing over the distorted, mangled and twisted image we often have of ourselves. The exaggerated features; long necks, plumped-up lips, and bulbous protrusions are the result of the human form going through my mental meat grinder, extruded out the other side into portraits of shimmering decrepitude. This is the idea that haunts the work and its subjects. They are trying so hard to be beautiful, yet are faced with the fact that they are outsiders, living on the fringe.

 

Over the years, various female icons, fertility goddesses, and primitive beings step in to play the roles of the characters I create. Bird-heads replace hands, high heeled shoes forced onto deformed feet, bows and bandages, these adornments serve

as the reminder of the struggle for the perfect appearance.

​

The work is disturbing and grotesque, beautiful and bold. It shimmers and rots in perfect unison. These figures occupy a world painted in cartoonish, primary colors often associated with fast food, enticing the viewer into the sickly, oversaturated mess.

 

 

Jasen Strauss

b. 1980 in Long Island, NY

lives in New York City

 

2002 BFA Parsons School of Design

 

 

Group Exhibitions

2016      Winter Grand Salon Show, Greenpoint Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2016      Borders, Star Space Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2009      Think Gallery XI, Think Gallery, NYC

2009      Group Show, Sip Bar, NYC

2004      Paper Magazine 20th Anniversary, Ukrainian Institute, NYC

2000      Antagonist Art Movement, Niagara, NYC

 

 

Awards/Grants

1996      Skidmore College Summer Arts Program