Michael Madore's Work Is A Portrait Of An Artist With Asperger's Syndrome

Michael Madore is an artist with Asperger's syndrome, but he didn't always understand his condition.

Before being diagnosed with Asperger's in 2000, he had been diagnosed with OCD, Tourette's syndrome, depression and anxiety. "When I grew up," he says in a video interview with the BBC, "I didn't have any of these definitions -- I just knew that I was really weird."

Madore has turned to visual art as a way of making sense of the world around him, but he's quick to admit that his interest in art didn't stem from a master plan. In an essay for Respiro, Madore describes how he got started in the arts. "I tend to be very literal," he writes. "So when my psychiatrist at Yale-New Haven Hospital suggested I apply to the Yale University School of Art, my response was, "Okay. I thought he was talking about a day treatment program!"

That he's proven to be a talented artist isn't to say that Madore feels as though he's any less -- in his own words -- "weird." In the video above, he explains that he has "always felt like I'm kind of floating off on the periphery somewhere." See for yourself how Madore has been able to turn his obsession with geography and statistics into marketable art, and let us know what you think in the comments section below.

WATCH: Madore explains his art and vision to the BBC: