August Walla — Austrian outsider artis
“August Walla (1936–2001) was an Austrian outsider artist.Walla grew up as an only child with his mother and grandmother. His mother dressed and educated him as a girl, to prevent him from becoming a soldier. Walla later declared that he had been a “Nazi girl” who had been re-operated during the Soviet occupation into a “communist twin”. In his works, female figures are often marked with a swastika, while male figures are marked with a hammer and a sickle.
Until the age of 9, he showed normal development and attended a special school. After that, no teaching or job could be found for him. At age 16, he first entered in-patient psychiatric treatment, where he remained until age 20. He returned to psychiatry at age 36 when his mother fell ill.”
