Die Arm=Sünd’r=Gloke, zu Breeslau, in der Stadt 1930

Adolf Wölfli made "Die Arm=Sünd’r=Gloke, zu Breeslau, in der Stadt" sometime in his life using colored pencil. The composition has a kind of symmetry but it's not rigid - more like a loose echo. The thing that strikes me about this piece is the density of the marks, the herringbone pattern on either side, and the cross in the center. When I think about texture and color, surface and medium, I am reminded of piecing together a puzzle. What do these colors and shapes make me feel? I like to think of Wölfli, layering colored pencil on the page, working and reworking the image until it felt right. His is a vision of art as a conversation, each mark responding to the last, building towards a kind of vibrant, visual harmony. In this way, Wölfli's approach reminds me of Paul Klee's playful use of color and form - a kind of visual jazz. I am left with the idea that art is an ongoing process of discovery and refinement, where the destination is never quite fixed.