A Minneapolis artist with a rare vision condition is captivating audiences at the Minnesota State Fair with his extraordinary ability to create intricate drawings containing thousands of hidden microscopic messages. Jeffrey Gause, who has high myopia, uses his condition as a superpower to craft detailed artwork that reveals inspirational quotes and phrases only when viewed through magnifying glasses.
At the fair's Fine Arts Building, crowds gather around Gause's large drawing, mesmerized by what appears to be random squiggles from a distance. Children and adults armed with magnifying glasses discover a hidden world of tiny words and messages embedded throughout the artwork. "It's so cool," says Kate Nestingen as she peers through a lens, while an amazed child adds, "I couldn't even write this small if I wanted to."
Viewer JT Caehne demonstrates the magic of the artwork as connected words come into focus through her handheld magnifying glass. "If you can touch the moon, you will reach the stars," she reads aloud from one section. "How do you write that small? There's so many messages," she marvels without looking away from the drawing.
Gause, who lives and works in the old Pillsbury flour mill, has been drawing microscopically his entire life. "I've been drawing small my whole life," the artist explains while sketching outdoors beneath the historic silos. He works with one end of his latest piece propped in his lap and the other resting on a hand railing, crouching over his sketch with his face just three or four inches from the canvas.
The artist's unique ability stems from high myopia, a condition affecting roughly four percent of Americans. "I have something called high myopia. I've had it all my life, but I never knew it was anything special," Gause explains. He recalls a memorable incident from third grade when a teacher scolded him for not writing his name on a test. "She couldn't see it; it was that tiny. I just said, 'I think you might need glasses, because I can see that so clear.'"
Gause's condition allows him to see objects in vivid detail at extremely close range without any magnification, essentially the opposite of normal vision. "I can see inches away without any magnification," he says. However, this extraordinary close-up vision comes with a trade-off – his distance vision is severely impaired. "When I don't have my glasses on, I can see colors and shapes and things, but I wouldn't be able to recognize a person, I wouldn't be able to read a sign," he admits.
While eye surgery could correct his high myopia, Gause has never considered himself in need of fixing. "Everybody has a gift, I think, that God gives them. And if we really nurture those gifts, and realize what they are, this world would be a much, much better place," he reflects philosophically about his condition.
Gause's current project, which will take months to complete, features a collection of intricate doodles interspersed with quotes about freedom. He creates these works using pens with the finest tips available, meticulously crafting each microscopic element. When not working on large pieces, Gause continues making and selling small magnetic art pieces that have made him a regular fixture at area art fairs.
The state fairgoers who discover Gause's work become part of a quiet, focused community as they hunt for hidden messages with their magnifying glasses. One of the micro messages embedded in his artwork reads "Anything is possible" – a fitting philosophy for an artist who has transformed what many might consider a visual limitation into an extraordinary artistic gift that inspires wonder and amazement in viewers of all ages.
