Die furchtbare Riesen=Brunst Deer Riesen=Stadt, Mutter=Kohrn,=Ost=Wand=Hall 1922

Adolf Wölfli made this drawing using colored pencils. Look at how he approached the surface, filling it edge to edge with detail! It’s clear that artmaking was a way for him to process his internal world. The textures he creates are mesmerizing. Tiny repeated lines form the buildings. These patterns create a visual vibration, enhanced by his use of complementary colors like the reds and greens and yellows and blues. Everything is so meticulously rendered, yet there’s an unhinged, raw quality. I keep coming back to the circular motifs in the lower register, radiating with faces and patterns. The energy is almost dizzying. Each mark feels deeply considered. It is like each tiny shape contributes to this complex, almost overwhelming whole. Wölfli’s obsessive mark-making reminds me of the work of Yayoi Kusama, who similarly uses repetition as a form of expression. Art becomes a way to make sense of things that are hard to understand.