Through The Eyes of Jon Sarkin 

I'm an artist and I'm a bit envious of his style. I'm an overthinker by nature, so my art and my process reflects that. But the images in my brain usually don't connect with what I've drawn. While watching this video I tried to not think and to just draw. It felt really freeing. Thank you for bringing attention to this wonderful artist! I love your channel!

I love these videos. Finally an art dedicated channel without the pretentious "know it all" narrator. This guy sounds genuine and interested in the art he looks into and doesn't come from a place of trying to explain the meaning by talking down to the viewer. "Here's a painting, these are my thoughts. What do you think?"

I hope I don't sound stupid saying this, because I mean it as a compliment coming from deep in my heart. Those 'daisy chained' lines that create movement & texture, alongside Jon Sarkin's life struggles, gave me an instant feeling of Van Gogh's paint strokes. Not in a blind mimicry for the sake of aesthetics, but as a genuine self expression. It's not identical, in technique or reasoning, just. More like kindred spirits. It's something you can't fake.

this channel has no business being as good as it is. brilliant stuff.

"It takes great discipline to be unstructured, and have your lack of structure be meaningful" Out of everything else in this video, this is going to stick with me the most

I just wanted to say thank you for creating a safe space for mentally ill and/or dark artists. You put in so much hard work with your video quality, research, and you present the most beautiful, insightful interpretations that any artist would swoon over. Your videos always give me a large dose of inspiration, even on my low days. As a mentally ill artist, I have struggled to find a community that I could fit in with the work that I do, and you created just that, for me. It’s a dream of mine to be featured on this channel 😇 more than a gallery or a show… Lol! Your channel means so much to me. Thank you for everything that you do for us!! ❤️

I feel really connected to art like this because I make it too. Of course not as much as Sarkin, but enough to look at his art and think ''that feels familiar''. I don't have any health problems or mental issues, but I still make art like this because writing down everything I think and doing little drawings with not much thought behind them is incredibly therapeutic. It helps with coping with real life problems. I also really like the idea of no one understanding what I meant with those random words and sentences I wrote down next to dumb drawings that are hard to explain. Thanks for making content like this btw! As someone that likes to watch content about art while making art, your content is amazing :D

In stylistic terms the art of Jon Sarkin bears a striking affinity (I think) with that of Adolf Wolffli, the German-Swiss schizophrenic genius mystic long recognized as the established archetype of the outsider/art brut artiste. Just a cursory side by side comparison quickly yields up the relevant similarities: the sheer profusion of personal imagery; the integration of textual elements---numbers, letters, words, names, et al.---into the overall design (think Basquiat's signature trait); the intentional use of obsessional repetitiveness (a definite schizo symptom as vis a vis Wolffli) as a decorative motif. But whereas Wolffli's iconography is well grounded in an extraordinarily precise symmetry, Sarkin's approach is gracefully asymmetrical, and imbued with an outer spontaneity not readily apparent in Wolffli's steady practiced hand. But the works of both artists are governed by a strong rhythmical sense, such that their respective imagery seems infused with this unleashed psychical energy. Both are pure visionaries who inhabit a highly unique personal space. Gifted individuals like Jon Sarkin are actual living miracles: human beings afflicted with otherwise crippling or limiting physical and neurological/psychological disabilities who nevertheless are found to access a previously undiscovered or hidden faculty, and thereby open up some inner floodgate out of which prodigiously pours these dreams, visions, mindscapes, illuminations, phantasies, entire hosts of phantasmagoria, galaxies filled with fabulous nebulae. It's all wondrous and amazing beyond words.

I don't really like his work, but I respect his passion.I do art therapy with dementia patients, and 2 of them are artists in their 90s.They both produce tiny, crosshatching lines and decorative shading marks.It's beautiful to me and is similar to these works by Sarkin.I think they might have worked like that in the past, but not sure It causes me to speculate that the tiny lines and marks are a symptom of brain deterioration.It's very satisfying to watch these senior artists concentrating on something, and enjoying themselves.

As someone who leaves with clinical depression, anxiety, exhausting OCD behavior and sh (when things get really poor), I can absolutely relate to all of your videos, artists and paintings and thank you for your work. This dark/crazy style of painting shows the real nature of a lonely human being and the opposite definition of "help". P.S. Why my junior's art school teacher didn't show all these creepy works to us?

My abysmal mental health makes it impossible for me to paint anymore. But it’s nice seeing these videos and reconnecting back into the art world. Makes me hope that someday maybe I could get back into it😌

Yes a new video. I love having them play in the background while I'm illustrating. Later I watch it again to see the artwork.

This channel is honestly a priceless gem and I am so happy to have found it. So lovingly written and researched, like all of your videos. Excellent work.

Man, i should of saved all my notebooks from grade school. They all looked like this guys art.

Weird, I saw this video yesterday in my subscription feed last night but when I went to rewatch your Francis Bacon video it said I wasn’t subscribed. Can’t believe I accidentally unsubbed from my favourite art channel. This was such a good video and made me want to do art again. Seriously, your videos consistently get me out of art block. Keep up the good work!!

Fascinating stuff. As a window into screenshots of a unique mind I really enjoy those pieces. The repetition, references, wearing influences on his sleeve, it's all really interesting. I see a very honest man who is very unfiltered about what interests him. His compulsive willingness to document his mind for others is very respectable and it makes his work very disarming for me.

I'm happy Mr Sorkin found art so therapeutic and I like his images. But calling someone who's first sale was 8 images to the New Yorker is hardly "outsider" There are probably hundreds of thousands of brilliant, creative people with no formal art training who would love to have a family member with connections at the New Yorker or any other NYC culture or art industry connections to kick start their career.

Keep it up. These videos are fascinating

I have always thought, if someone proclaims to be an artist, they really aren't really an artist. They just got good at explaining why they are an artist. To me, the real artist would not be bothered with advertising the label of an artist, as they are usually bothered by something more

I’m gonna keep asking for Zdzislaw Beksinski until you cover him

I love coming across artists like this and it both worries me and gives me hope. I can see my disorder develop (BPD, possibly bipolar?) with age. I've done the repetitive word thing and text as image since I was a teen (they were manic thoughts, I refered to it as a "muse dictating it's ideas to me") but little by little my art has become more chaotic and similar to Sarkin's. It feels like home to be unsterstood but GOD am I terrified of the organic deterioration of my brain, an illness or age.

Like a few others, I feel really connected to his art because my own art also looks surprisingly similar. I am autistic and, when I have meltdowns, I use art to help get me through. As such, I try to show what the meltdown feels like and every single thing that is flowing through my head at the time. It's actually interesting to see how similar our art is despite nothing relating us but neurological 'stuff'. This is weirdly inspiring. When I show my art to people, a lot of them grimace and say it's scary so it's nice to see someone in a similar boat being praised instead of shot down for making "weird", mentally-fueled art.

i’ve worked personally with jon and i’m so glad to see his story being told!!! i own many pieces of his and i cherish them so deeply. if you find yourself in the gloucester area, definitely take some time ti give jon a visit (and perhaps grab a print!).he’s very down to earth and loves visitors!

Are they saying that he had a stroke in the beginning on the golf course,or during the operation?This is hard to follow and understand.

youve become one of my favorite yt channels. ive started making art again too! keep it up!

All my complaints are null and invalid.

I wonder if Sarkin liked drawing when growing up. I think he must have had drawing skills above the average already then even if he didn't have interest in art as a hobby.

Love your channel! Here are some other outsider artists I think you’d have a great time discussing (and your audience would appreciate): Royal Robertson Susan Te Kahurangi King Nick Blinko (seeing your analysis of Cobain and Nirvana, it’s worth noting Blinko led the great anarcho-noise punk band Rudimentary Peni)

I can understand why he decided to leave his pieces without titles 🖤

Thanks so much for bringing Sarkin's work to my attention! Wonderful that his tragic situation could be transformed through his art

Very inspiring! Love how he write "random" word in his paintings and drawings. Some of his works arw very irritating for my nervous system. In some works he uses a similar technic like van gogh... this little tiny lines

Another banger but what else could we expect from blind dweller

I feel for this man and his plight. Such constant pain and discomfort must have been hell. His art conveys that painful sense of self awareness and introspection we all have to some degree.

I'm gonna be honest the first 10 minutes of this was crazy anxiety inducing... love your channel though it has inspired me to start drawing again.

I have some mental health issues that result in a very noisy and chaotic brain that sometimes feels like it physically hurts because of how manic it is. This video and this art is inspiring me to try making something like this to see if it can work for me too. These pictures reflect how I feel all the time in a way I've never been able to describe myself.

Unfortunately, Mr Jon Sarkin has passed away at age 71. RIP to a great artist.

Many modern artists never grow out of their Basquiat phase.

The thing I've always wondered is this: can there be an intersection between the typical fine art of the likes of Wiley and Basquiat on an aesthetic level? Or are they too far apart for that? Hopefully that appears. It would be really sick to see realism meet the absurd.

I’m obsessed with your channel. Keep up the great work! 👍🏼

Hey man you should check out Henriette Valium, he unfortunately passed away almost a year ago... amazing artist, I knew him personally

This looks like my high school note booke

Great video once again! This artist reminds me a bit of the work of Charles Crumb (brother of famous Robert Crumb). From the Charles Crumb wiki page: "In Charles' adult years, his artwork exhibited repetitive and painstaking concentric lines, filling in otherwise normal, Crumbesque drawings, reflecting an obsession with filling every last centimeter of white space. Charles Crumb and his artwork received wide public attention as a result of the success of the 1994 feature-length documentary film Crumb, in which Charles and some of his work are featured prominently. His artwork, including notebooks filled with tiny gestural marks that suggest handwriting, has been published and exhibited, sometimes in the context of outsider art."

New video

Fuck it im buying art stuff again

This has inspired me to just try write every word that pops into my head like word association to see what i come out with

Phenomenal video. Thank you so much to bringing this amaizng artist to my knowledge. This work is absolutely incredible. I'm going to continue to follow Sarkin and you!

you don't see anyone giving this same praise to objectively equal art, art of most kids are the same for instance but no one praises them in the same way

His story is horrifying. I can't even begin to imagine what he must have gone through. On a different note: His art is reminiscent of Basquiats for sure. That's interesting because Jean-Michel had a traumatic experience as a child that influenced the way how drew as well. It'd be cool if researchers could look into that connection a bit more

I have an odd lil story that relates to this. About 9 years back a friend and I woke up from a night of drinking and he asked if I wanted to go to Gloucester with him for his court appointment. I went but just ended up wandering around downtown until he was finished with court. I came across some cool record store and an art studio called Fish City studios that I wanted to check out, so we went in. Once inside, I remember seeing a room filled with paintings and drawings and some whiteboard to-do list that said something about "get on facebook". There was a young man and an old guy with severely crossed eyes both sitting on metal folding chairs in the center of the room. The older guy encouraged the young man to do his rap for us, my friend and I then started beatboxing for him. The young man did his whole rap about a guy who comes home from the war and can't deal with his PTSD (I remember the last line was "he took 2 shots but only one of them was gin.") After that we just kinda left I think. Fast forward to last year and I'm watching a video on strange cases of people who gain some type of ability from brain damage that they hadn't had before the trauma. One of the cases they had as an example was none other than John Sarkin, and as I watched, he looked so strangely familiar. Or maybe not, idk. All I know was I was interested in his art so I looked him up, and his studio address was listed in Gloucester, and I put 2 and 2 together and turns out I had met him all those years ago without even knowing it!

I find his work to be really unnerving but in the same way I find the uncanny valley unnerving. I am struggling to understand why though.

Batman enjoyer instantly base

M i n g u s

Most of what I'm seeing looks like a 5th grader did it. To each their own.

Matt thank you for creating this astounding video. Jon Sarkin has long been a hero of mine,but a real worls hero in that he is still alive and creating his memmerising art. Hearing his story and what happened to hime and how it brought him to creating his art is very close to the bone for me and a journey and experience I can really relate to and emapthse with. Jon's art is proof how art can literally save a person's life and turn it around comlpletely in a really uplifting and strengthening way. I had a theapist.couscellor who owns a piece of Jon's work one of his album cover pieces. It was on the wall in the room I would see her in.I was always drawn to this work and felt a sense of recognition too. One session she asked me why I loved the image,I said I felt as I have been to the place this in life artist has been to create that art. She told me Jon's name and a bit about him. She also said she felt I could relate to his journey in lofe and to his art with waht I had been through i my own life.. Not long after Colin's book of Jon's art was published my therapst gifted me a copy of the book,and it was like a realy bright light being switched on in my head and a real sense of recognotion too. This is such a insightful and well researched video and I love that you also got to know the artist himself which gives a real sense of genuine empathy to this video.I'm in awe of Jon's endless peolific output of art ,words and characerts. He has fully embraced the change that happend in his life after his illness and found a new way of life through his art and that inspires me so much in my own life and artwork. I have known Jon's work for a while,but happy to hear that hs art is getting the recognition it so deserves and that Jon himself as the trurly remarkable man he is also being seen as a real force of creative nature. I hope the more indepth book happens in the not too distant future. But the current book is always open in my studio as a source of comfort and inspiration. I think why Jon is such ahero to me is the sense of hope and aspiration that comes from his work and his reverence of the world and the people he encounters. I hope more people discover him as a result of you gifting us with this brilliant video and people should definitly visit his web site. I personally love the album cover pieces, but there is also something very human and mirroring in his portrait pieces too.I think what makes your videos so great is that you genuinely love the artists and their work that you feature and also that you are an artist yourslf and can see the wok of the artists you feature through that sense of vision,I sense when you reach out to the arists they find it esay to reach back to you.I think you have a genuine creative and human empathy and that comes through in your videos and for the way you enlighten us with all you know about the artists. I don't know why but when I look at Jon Sarkin's work it invokes the work of basquiat,I know there is no connection between these two artists,but the almost explosive driven creative energy in Basquiat's work is also very much present in Jon's work too.. Thank you for his video I was a real gift and made me really happy. (Matt,yes we have the same name!) P.S can't wait for the next video.

Am loving your videos. This one was really interesting (not that your other vids aren't interesting). PS - I hate Batman 😄

The scribblings of a damaged brain reverted back to childhood.

Thank you verry much! I see you put a loth of work in these videos. I'm verry thankfull because this was a great inspiration for me. Not only that, it was also a reminder that the process and the final product can only be great together. I hope your channal does good. The least I can do is subscribe

I am an artist and really enjoy your videos! a mind is a powerful place. and when things shift our world shifts. p.s. I just ordered his book!

Kanye’s Life of Pablo album cover reminds me of his art style. As an artist with adhd, i really loved learning about Jon in this video, thank you for introducing me to his work!

your videos are the only ones i full screen on my phone 😆

Wow what a nice video and a script you should be proud of.

Jon Sarkin has created some of the most beautiful and breathtaking art I have ever seen. His work and styles have rekindled my desire to keep exploring different aspects and styles of art. Despite only having got back into the art scene and starting to make art in August of 2020, I was quick to reject the notion that in order to be a successful artist, you have to find and develop your own distinct style. I have found that idea to be very restrictive and rigid. I enjoy finding new and different styles and techniques and trying them for myself. I keep the stuff that resonates and discard the rest. I completely understand why Sarkin is drawn to revolutionary artists who went against what was popular and fashionable at the time, as I feel the same draw to those artists as well. I sincerely congratulate Jon Sarkin on his success and wish him a very impactful and joyous career. 💜

heya! idk if you take recommendations through these comments, but you could look at Vladimir Veličković! i believe his works would interest you since they are eerie, gorey and more on the existentialism side. he was a serbian contemporary artist. i was lucky to go to an exhibition of his work, which spanned from early to late adulthood. a big motif in them is inspired by scenes he saw during ww2 and the many conflicts the balkans had since, along with religious themes, evolution/science (maybe? i might be reaching a bit here), and general analysis of nature. in his art you very clearly see his improvement and during that exhibition it got portrayed to us as 3 or 4 stages of his life. i dont see people talk about him at all on the internet outside of serbian art spaces which is a shame, so i'd love if you could cast light on his work!

This channel is incredible. Thank you for what you do and keep being awesome.

I am that one person who doesn't like batman. I'm on team joker

I had never heard of him. Thank you for making this video, now I'm a fan too

This was really great! I appreciate it. Keep doing what you do!

Dear Blind Dweller thank you for these wonderful videos, I alwayse am interested in other artists this is real proof that you can learn something new every day.

can you please please really please do a document on Andy Warhol please 🙏

Matt, you are amazing. Thank you -from the bottomless pit- for this video!

I love this video, but I would like to point out that I gave it the 666th like and that made my night 😈

Babe wake up, new Blind Dweller just dropped

I would love if you could cover Vincent van Gogh, I believe there is plenty to talk about him and the way his paintings came to exist in the form they do. Thank you in advance.

I would really like a video covering the dystopian surrealism of Beksiński whenever you have a chance. Other than that keep up the good work man

Everyone should have this channel in their life

Love the interview you did with Jon! Gives the watcher a slight feeling of connection to the artist!

this is 100% pure cockamamie

Poor guy! But No Sacrifice is too Great for Art I guess....

He is a man of good taste. Can't go wrong with any of those musicians! I love how you get this compulsion to create, you don't know what the impact will be. Then, the whole world tells you that you've created something that matters. It's got to be such a surreal experience to see your art on the other side of the world, appreciated. Or, to know that you've made such an impact, that you've inspired leagues of budding & seasoned artists alike to take up their mediums and allow that same energy to flow through them. It's really quite amazing when you think about it.

It's not your usual thing but can you do A.O.Hamer? I love her personality and her art is regal and her talent is very easy to see

his paintings personifies the word zitegiest

Let’s gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nice work. The guy got lemons, made lemonaid then branched out into making a suite of tasty fruit drinks.

How did a brain injury caused a guy to start having a art talent that is so strange the human mind is so damn strange at times somethings we don't know about it

Wow, i see a lot of the same chaotic, stream-of-consciousness and stylistic elements in his work that are present in some of my own pieces. I had never heard of him, so thank you for the introduction. Would you be interested in seeing some of my work? Even if you choose not to feature it at the end of one of your videos, i would love to hear your feedback, if you're open to it. Cheers :)

YOUR CHANNEL is STELLAR, one of my all-time faves on youtube!

I wonder how his art looks through his eyes

I'M SURPRISED YOU DON'T HAVE 1 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS, BLIND DWELLER!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

It is glorious that Mr Sarkin's correspondence became a vessel or canvas or whatever. I don't give a shit about the revealing of your actual name. Matthew is a fine name. I've seen his art, i have seen his work but i knew nothing about him. Thank you for this video, i dug it a lot.

Klee is pronounced like "clay".

AT LEAST JON SARKIN MANAGED TO STILL MAKE ART THROUGH ALL OF HIS PAIN! WHEN I'M STRESSED ABOUT SOMETHING, I DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!! 🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨

This is mesmerizing!

Thank you

What a video, at first when I saw his art In the beginning of the video, I didn’t think much other than doodling and words but as you went into depth about him and his work the same art pieces now looked different. I really loved this video thank you so much for amazing content !

Very basquiat-esque

RIP Jon Sarkin 😢

Thank you. This was easily digestible as I know nothing about art. I enjoyed this and will watch more on your channel 😘

I can relate to that level of tinnitus, luckily mine was only that bad for 4 weeks.

Please, please, please hire a narrator. Your voice is stopping me from watching 😢

What was sarkin' eating some spices damge his nervous system gave his brain inflammation.