Persons [ ] My work is a confessional | Louise Bourgeois, 1911-2010

Louise Bourgeois in her apartment-workshop in New York, 1946

“Tell your own story, and you will be interesting.”

“My childhood has never lost its mystery, and it has never lost its drama.”

“I have kept a diary as long as I can remember, and drawings are really another kind of diary.”

“I have drawn my whole life. My parents were in the tapestry restoration business, and as a young girl, I would draw in the missing parts of the tapestry that needed to be rewoven.”

“To convince others, you have to convince yourself; and a conciliatory or even an unduly understanding attitude — in that it is inevitably superficial — is not helpful to creativity.”

“I was a ‘runaway girl’ from France who married an American and moved to New York City. I’m not sure I would have continued as an artist had I remained in Paris because of the family setup.”

“I have been to hell and back. And let me tell you, it was wonderful.”

“I know that when I finish a drawing, my anxiety level decreases. The realistic drawings are a way of pinning down an idea. I don’t want to loose it. With the abstract drawings, when I’m feeling loose, I can slip into the unconscious.”

Louise Bourgeois, Untitled, 1976

“Space is something that you have to define. Otherwise, it is like anxiety, which is too vague. A fear is something specific. I like claustrophobic spaces, because at least then you know your limits.”

Louise Bourgeois, 1973

“My art is a form of restoration in terms of my feelings to myself and to others.”

“Look at it this way – a totem pole is just a decorated tree. My work is a confessional.”

“To express your emotions, you have to be very loose and receptive. The unconscious will come to you if you have that gift that artists have. I only know if I’m inspired by the results.”

Brassaï, Louise Bourgeois, Académie de la Grande-Chaumière, Paris, 1937

“You have to realize that you aren’t working in a blind way for the good of humanity in general. You have to set up a scale of objectives and values and work systematically.”

Louise Bourgeois, What is the shape of this problem ?, 1999

“I am a searcher… I always was… and I still am… searching for the missing piece.”

Louise Bourgeois, Self Portrait, 2007

“You are born alone. You die alone. The value of the space in between is trust and love. That is why geometrically speaking the circle is a one.”

Louise Bourgeois, 1911-2010

Also:
I want to | Louise Bourgeois, 1962
Stereosc2pe + | Feel | Louise Bourgeois, 1990-2002