mysterious

Jacob Sharpe, ‘The Hanging Badger’. Fine artist and illustrator, working mainly with vinyl cut relief printing. Themes of history, mythology, horror and folklore run through Jacob’s work; my favourite pieces are his portraits, above. For more of his work, check out Jacob’s website >> www.thehangingbadger.com.

“I was diagnosed with a mental heath condition after I left university about 8 years ago but looking back I can see myself suffering from it (or elements of it) right back to my earliest years. I am an artist and have always hoped to make a living in some sort of arty way, or even just be a bit successful at it while not necessarily making a living. I predominantly work in black and white using vinyl cut relief printing and I often make use of silhouettes in my illustrations.

Recently I ventured away from my usual creative process as a way of coping better at my ‘real’ part time job (where I can feel most trapped!). I started to draw a series of self portraits in black ink on scraps of paper at certain quiet times at my desk to convey what was going on in my head when I was struggling most.

People I work with often comment on how cool, calm and collected I seem while working but in reality inside my head and through my body I am the complete opposite of relaxed. I felt a physical need to get out what was inside, I did not start the artwork with a plan I just kept putting pen to paper until I felt I had got across how horrible things were in my head at that moment. I have found this incredibly helpful, positive and uplifting to create a representation of something you can’t really ‘see’ and can’t always describe. It is a wonderful release and I find the nastier the portrait the better I feel.”