Der Struwwelpeter
Illustrated by Alisha Wessler, text by Heinrich Hoffman
Der Struwwelpeter is a book of children's cautionary verses written by a German psychiatrist Heinrich Hoffman in 1845, while he was working at an insane asylum. He wrote it for his children upon finding no suitable books to give them as Christmas gifts. This little text has endured because of its comically brutal system of morality and punishment. Alisha Wessler reinterpreted the stories with a series of new drawings.
"My work exists as archaeological sites; scenes frozen in time, compelling the viewer to search within the layers for clues. I make cellular cross-sections of singular moments, as if one were to slice through the earth and magnify what lies therein. My process itself deals with themes of collecting, as I will mark with ink upon the panel until the surface grows rich with the accumulation of infinitesimal detail."
