Jean Saucisse is the pseudonym of an artist who works in pen and ink drawing, printmaking and painting, producing images that swing between abstract and eccentrically figurative, by turns hallucinogenic, mournful, humorous or light-hearted. The name is a French adaptation of Hanswurst, a grotesque Harlequin-like figure once forbidden by the authorities of its era, and had already served as the artist's fanzine pen name before being adopted for NFT work.
The artist first taught themself to draw as a teenager, then in their mid-twenties returned to art school for three years to study printmaking. They found more instruction in observing other artists and printmakers than in their own coursework, and describe printmaking as functioning like “a martial meditative art”. After returning to live in France, the political climate there encouraged the artist to explore cryptocurrencies, which led to a first encounter with NFTs as a way to keep making art outside the traditional art world.
