the alchemist grandmother
The obituaries for Louise Bourgeois speak of memory and childhood trauma--her father the domineering philanderer, her strong and nurturing mother. Feminism, sexuality, body parts, psychological conflict, raw and extreme emotions. Her work was a means of interpretation. "A form of psychoanalysis", she said, "a way of coming to grips with my anxiety and fears. It is an attempt to be a better person." Some writers touch on her rocky relationship with the art world, which for the most part ignored her until the late 1970s. Volatile, yes. I remember scenes from a documentary in which she wanders through her work, sharing her thoughts on certain pieces while destroying a few that she suddenly found offensive. Also prolific. Even in her last week, at 98, she was producing new work.
I'm sad that at the end of her remarkable life, I can't quite explain why her work is so powerful to me personally, perhaps more than any other visual artist. It seems to float in three spheres at once. It's not uncommon to see art that comes from deeply personal roots transition to broader human experience. But Bourgeois' work also embodies the impersonal universe. The cosmos flows through the work. Patience and neutrality seem to have permeated a violent, suspicious, private seed from all sides. Her work can be disturbing and intense, but what stuns me and stays with me is the sustaining calmness, the feeling of the expanding universe. It is a wonderful gift.
Thank you, LB.