All photos used in this article are by (c) Andrew Zaeh, East Deck Creative, Inc.
Wasteland, an art novel by Jason Haaf and Scooter LaForge, is a place you can sink into or try to leave. It is a time when you fall into lust and become glued; it can be a trap or an escape. Combining painting, prose, poetry, and collage, authors Haaf and LaForge explore queer intimacy, anger, and angst. From relationships to repetitions, Wasteland is an open invitation into a collaborative psyche. Wasteland will be released on February 24th via Doable Guys.
Jason Haaf Artist Statement
“Earlier this year, I was working at the Strand bookstore, and my book, Harsh Cravings, was stacked on the LGBTQ table. It was a Sunday, and there was one copy left. By the time I left for the night, I noticed that it was gone. I posted a story on Instagram saying we’re out of copies, but we’ll restock soon. I received a message from Scooter LaForge saying he bought the last one.
East Deck Creative, Inc.
I was flattered that Scooter, a fixture in the art and fashion world, thought to purchase it. He told me that he was enjoying it and related to much of the material. A few days and messages later, I got a bit of gumption and asked if he’d want to work together. He was open to the idea, and we agreed to talk more. I’ve collaborated with artists before, and I told him that this time I’m looking for something different. Something more involved. I told him that I don’t want my work to just sit on top of another’s. I want it to go inside. I want a melding, a third eye, a true collaboration where lines are blurred. I questioned if the intensity of that idea would turn him off, but it didn’t, and we made a plan to meet.
No Preconceived Notion
There was no preconceived notion of Wasteland; that title, made famous by T.S. Eliot, did not yet exist for our project. We began with watercolor paper, ink, and a bamboo pen. I rifled through old journal entries dating back to 2021, and I found passages that still resonated with me. When I transcribed them onto watercolor paper, I channeled the emotions I felt when those words were written. When I handed off the pages to Scooter, the aim was to discover a response. Nothing planned, nothing predetermined. And when he returned the pages, surrounded by his art, it didn’t change the meaning of my words; instead, it added a light and an energy to them, another pulse. Sometimes I would respond, adding paint and pastels to his creation. And sometimes, I would write more words over his art. This was the kind of collaboration I was looking for.
Months later, I began sorting about 80 art pieces together. What I found is that Wasteland became a place, a being, a location. While indefinitely Queer in nature, it is a place we all go to. What is it to want to get out of our surroundings? Is it to create something new? What is this urge to say, this isn’t enough, and I want more? How do we get there? And what if we stayed? To create, we need the guidance and relatability of others. It is where we can unapologetically go inside our own heads and ultimately travel to someplace new with the help of another.”
Scooter LaForge Artist Statement
“This collaboration started with a jolt of instinct. I was roaming the Strand, hungry for something real—maybe a queer love story, maybe just a voice that felt alive. Then I saw the cover of Jason’s book. It hit me. I opened it, read a few lines, and felt that electric pull you only get when something speaks straight to you. The raw, diary-like honesty hooked me fast.
East Deck Creative, Inc.
When I finished the book, I messaged Jason just to say how deeply it landed. I didn’t know who he was, didn’t know his reputation—none of that mattered. I was responding to the object, the words, the feeling in my chest.
He wrote back and asked if I’d paint from his writing. The question felt so right that I said yes instantly. We met in a café, and from the first conversation, something charged passed between us—creative, emotional, hard to name.
The work poured out of me. No forcing, no second-guessing. Just pure response. It felt like opening a vein in the best way.
This project is unlike anything I’ve ever done, and I’m proud of what came out of us. The book feels alive, touched by a real kind of magic—the kind that only shows up when two people meet at exactly the right moment and say yes.”
Artist Biographies
Scooter LaForge
Scooter LaForge (b. Las Cruces, New Mexico) is a New York–based artist has lived and worked in the East Village for two decades. Drawing on art history and classical themes, he creates vividly contemporary works across painting, sculpture, and drawing, marked by unorthodox techniques and striking, iconic imagery. His pieces function as an intuitive visual journal, shaped by an agile, exploratory approach and a wide emotional range.
East Deck Creative, Inc.
LaForge’s work has been exhibited at the Leslie-Lohman Museum in New York, the Friedrichshof Museum in Vienna, and the Spritmuseum/Absolut Art Collection in Stockholm. A feature-length documentary, Scooter LaForge: A Life of Art (dir. Ethan Minsker), released in 2023, and a 30-year survey of his paintings opened at Lesley University College of Art and Design in 2024.
He also designs a celebrated line of bespoke clothing sold through Patricia Field’s ArtFashion Gallery. His pieces have been worn by Madonna, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, and Debbie Harry, and his costume designs have been Emmy- and Tony-nominated. LaForge is a recent recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant.
Jason Haaf
Jason Haaf (b. Coral Springs, Florida) is a Brooklyn-based writer and visual artist. Largely influenced by diaristic writings and memoirs, Haaf’s work is rooted in intimacy and confession. His debut novel, Harsh Cravings (Polari Press, 2022), is a 90-day diary taking place during the summer and fall of 2020. Can I See Your Niche?, featuring Haaf’s cut-ups and collages, was published by Trapart Books in 2023. Watchword, a collaborative unbound art book featuring prose and collage, was published by @ND in 2023.
His writing and art have also been featured in Truant, edited by Nate Lippens, Rendering Unconscious: Psychoanalytic Perspectives, Politics & Poetry, and The Trapartisan Review (Trapart Books), Shower with Affection: Group Shower (Raw Meat Collective), and Hello Mr. magazine. Haaf was a recipient of the Seattle Erotic Art Fair’s Foundation Award for Literary Art (2025).
About Doable Guys (Publisher)
Doable Guys is a homoerotic art collective that showcases and promotes diverse art styles from around the world. Through their books, figure-drawing sessions, and other pop-up events, they strive to welcome and foster a supportive community and to encourage artists to follow their passions and explore their creativity.
Jason Haaf: Instagram / Website