Like a Valentine: The Art of Jeffry Mitchell (Sara Krajewski)

Jeffry Mitchell approaches his artistic exploration of love, death, sex, and spiritual trial and redemption with sincerity and intuitive intelligence. His art radiates a charm and appeal marked by an exuberant abundance of forms, materials, and techniques. From his earliest experiments with resin and paper to his extended engagement with ceramics and his latest multi-part installations, Mitchell has consistently investigated the decorative and the theatrical—blurring distinctions between art, craft, and functionality. Mitchell, who has called himself a “gay folk artist,” has developed a distinct visual language with symbolic characters like flowers, elephants, bears, and other flora and fauna. The seemingly child-like sweetness or nostalgic sentimentality quickly gives way to complex emotional content and narratives that touch upon Mitchell’s identity as an artist and gay man as well as his upbringing in a working class, Catholic family. His work also responds to specific aspects of th