Der Quarantt, Zohrn, ditto, Zohohrn und ditto, Ziohn; Riesen=Stärne 1919

Adolf Wölfli made this drawing, with colored pencil on paper, during his long institutionalization in a Swiss asylum. The material itself—colored pencil on paper—is not unusual; it’s the sheer labor and intensity of the work that sets it apart. Wölfli layered his images, words, and patterns into complex arrangements, filling every available space. Note the artist's intricate use of geometric forms and obsessive renderings of shapes. Wölfli was a self-taught artist, and his work has been categorized as Art Brut, outside the established art world and free from academic constraints. His art-making was a world-making activity. He invented languages, geographies, and autobiographical narratives. His intense production offered him a means of imposing order on the chaos of his own mind. In looking at this work, we might consider the transformative power of art, particularly when divorced from traditional notions of skill and taste. Wölfli’s drawing practice became a form of labor that reshaped his lived reality.