# @drawingcenter on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg8-NjAhLGY
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/16046023-drawingcenter-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/acff52f529.jpg
- **Posted:** 2018-03-30T15:38:54.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** The Drawing Center (@drawingcenter) — https://gondola.cc/drawingcenter

## Caption

Artists have a variety of methods to make their mark. Every Friday we will share a photograph of an #ArtistInAction. 〰️
Unica Zürn (1916-1970) was a German author and artist involved in the Surrealist circles in Paris during the 1950s and 60s. Primarily working in ink, pencil, and gouache, Zürn produced intricate drawings on paper with undulating line work. Zürn used the surrealist technique of automatism, a drawing strategy that seeks to express the subconscious by allowing the hand to move randomly across the page without rational thought. Her automatic drawings are beautiful tangles of thin lines that form distorted creatures that usually have a haunting set of expressive eyes - a signature feature of her work. “The pen “floats” tentatively above the white paper, until she discovers the spot for the first eye.” Zürn explains, referring to herself in third person. “Only once she is “being looked at” from the paper does she start to find her bearings and effortlessly add one motif to the next.” Zürn had a traumatic life riddled with tragedy and mental illnesses including bipolarism and schizophrenia. She was frequently hospitalized for psychotic episodes and made several suicide attempts. After one stay, Zürn returned to her studio and burned all of her work, but she continued to produce throughout her life. In her drawings, Zürn often splits faces, creatures, and shapes, which may have been a symptom of her ravaged mind: “Life, this bad dream: Night! Courage!..cut everything in two: nose, stomach, right arm,” she said in an interview. The combination of her mental sickness and surrealist techniques resulted in disquieting, but astonishing work. You can read more about Zürn in our catalogue “Drawing Papers 86: Unica Zürn: Dark Spring” on our website (physical copies sold out). #UnicaZürn

Image: L to R: Photo by Johannes Lederer, c.1953; Unica Zürn, Untitled, 1966. Courtesy of Ubu Gallery.

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## Tags

unicazürn, artistinaction

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