Bound by disability and isolation, Josef Hofer had a curious mind about many things in life. He is both deaf and mute, which kept him away from formal education while he stayed in the secluded farm of his family in upper Austria.
This isolation lead to him seeking ways to express himself creatively. He began with basket weaving and eventually was introduced to an art group in 1997 where he obsessively focused on drawing. Many have noticed that his depictions include this enclosed and detached version of people – a mirror of his own life.
Interestingly enough, the importance of his own reflection came to him when he first received a full length mirror. This object was pivotal in his regards to himself sexually and it soon manifested into a collection of artwork. With his lack of communication and exploration his quest for sexual emergence is expressed in the outward framework used as both an enclosure with limits, and conversely as a measure of flourishing with depth.
Sources: OutsiderArt, Artbrut, RawVision
