'Delusional': Joffe in his studio, surrounded by portraits of his ex, Rose Jas Lehal/TLP

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It’s normal to want a fresh start after a harsh break-up. It’s not normal to sell every single one of your possessions except the clothes you’re wearing in order to show your ex that you’ve changed.

But that’s what controversial artist Jasper Joffe – who sold a candy-coloured portrait of Nazi Heinrich Himmler to Saatchi last year – will be doing in two weeks.

From his laptop and telly to the teddy given to him when he was born, the quiet, bushy-haired 33-year-old is getting rid of it all to start afresh.

Joffe will divide his belongings into 33 lots and ­exhibit them for five days, ­before selling each group for £3,333 – ­although not religious, he ­associates the number 33 with Jesus’s death and rebirth.

“I wake up every morning at 6am, panicking,” he ­admits, looking around his crammed studio with a pained ­expression.

“It’s like having a midlife crisis, funeral and a retrospective, rolled into one.”

Joffe decided to get rid of ­everything last December, when his girlfriend of five years, Rose, broke up with him and he felt he had reached rock-bottom.

“I’m hoping it will work out – maybe I’m delusional,” he says softly.

“I hope this is a ­gesture that says ‘I’ve changed, I’m doing something about my life’.”

It’s not the first time an artist has given up all their worldly goods: in 2001 Michael Landy took over an old C&A store in Oxford Street to destroy ­everything he owned.

“That was amazing­,” Joffe says. “Definitely one of the best art shows of the last 20 years. But this is different because I’m selling things rather than destroying them, which creates a different relationship.”

Joffe doesn’t own a car or house, but if everything goes, he will be left with nothing but the clothes on his back, his glasses, keys, phone and wallet. He says the first thing he’ll do after the sell-off is buy some new paintbrushes, and then go on holiday.

“I want everything to be different – my life, my paintings, my relationships,” he says.

“It’s like when people have some huge trauma, and come through feeling positive and able to do new things. There’s sadness, but also freedom.”

The Sale of a Lifetime, 29 Jul-2 Aug, Idea Generation Gallery, 11 Chance St, E2, free

What's on sale

Postcards & letters: “All your memories get stuck in objects. When you get them out, you start thinking about things you haven’t done for years. It’s liberating to get rid of them.”

Portraits of his ex, Rose: “I painted them in the ­moment of grief. When you break up with someone­, you realise it’s not the stuff you own that’s ­important, it’s the relationships­ you have.”

Joffe’s bed: “I made this to sleep in the studio.”

Teddy bears: “I collect teddies – some antique, some I’ve had since a child.”

Tracey Emin print: “I was 22 and at the ­Royal College. They have this sale where you can get a [Peter] Doig or an Emin for £30. I slept in a sleeping bag all night so I was third in the queue.”

Amethyst: “My mother gave it to me as a child. It was quite precious. I’ve always kept it in a little box.”

KitchenAid mixer: “My mixer cost £300. I’m very attached to it, because I like making cakes. It’s brushed steel or something. That’s particularly tragic.”