Louise Bourgeois
Maman - This giant sculpture is one of Bourgeois' best know works that showcases her skill and unique style for her time. Standing prominently in front of The Tate, London, this piece is said to exemplify her inner fears and drama from childhood. Instead of dealing with emotions like sadness, anger and depression though therapy or talking she drew and made them into creatures and forms that she could control and manipulate. I love that this personifies the art into an animal or monster that many viewers can relate to. Her wild imagination is clear to see in most of her pieces which is similar to my own practise through visualising emotions and how parts of our brain function.
Relocating to New York for Bourgeois had a huge influence on her work. The dramatic skyline of Manhattan, so different to that of Paris, inspired her collection of Totem poles. These tall, often wooden, sculptures also personified feelings. She saw sky scrappers as being lonely, never touching one another despite being so close. This I see relates to how Manhattan was a new age, scientific city, but in its industrialism was romance and new beginnings. For bourgeois, her new beginning meant leaving family and knowing no one in a new continent. These poles are said to represent some of her fellow loved ones and even her son. She could feel comfortable around these works of art as she had created them and in turn is her imagination being alive. I like the appearance of all these crowded in a room as it can resemble both people and a city form. The organic nature of these forms inspiring me with the hypothetical visualisations of the brain i was working on myself.
A recurring theme in Bourgeois' work was motherhood and she felt this natural instinct. Again personifying, in this case buildings and the home, she took these familiar structures and added limbs, bodies and facial features that depicted how some roles, like a mother, felt like being trapped and had huge responsibility. These homes i feel show how behind closed doors there are secrets and stories often no one can understand form the outside. For her it is a way of explaining her feelings without words. However, i feel her installation work offers more of an atmosphere and an impact that the viewers can experience rather than a painting to look at.
Maman - This giant sculpture is one of Bourgeois' best know works that showcases her skill and unique style for her time. Standing prominently in front of The Tate, London, this piece is said to exemplify her inner fears and drama from childhood. Instead of dealing with emotions like sadness, anger and depression though therapy or talking she drew and made them into creatures and forms that she could control and manipulate. I love that this personifies the art into an animal or monster that many viewers can relate to. Her wild imagination is clear to see in most of her pieces which is similar to my own practise through visualising emotions and how parts of our brain function.
Relocating to New York for Bourgeois had a huge influence on her work. The dramatic skyline of Manhattan, so different to that of Paris, inspired her collection of Totem poles. These tall, often wooden, sculptures also personified feelings. She saw sky scrappers as being lonely, never touching one another despite being so close. This I see relates to how Manhattan was a new age, scientific city, but in its industrialism was romance and new beginnings. For bourgeois, her new beginning meant leaving family and knowing no one in a new continent. These poles are said to represent some of her fellow loved ones and even her son. She could feel comfortable around these works of art as she had created them and in turn is her imagination being alive. I like the appearance of all these crowded in a room as it can resemble both people and a city form. The organic nature of these forms inspiring me with the hypothetical visualisations of the brain i was working on myself.
A recurring theme in Bourgeois' work was motherhood and she felt this natural instinct. Again personifying, in this case buildings and the home, she took these familiar structures and added limbs, bodies and facial features that depicted how some roles, like a mother, felt like being trapped and had huge responsibility. These homes i feel show how behind closed doors there are secrets and stories often no one can understand form the outside. For her it is a way of explaining her feelings without words. However, i feel her installation work offers more of an atmosphere and an impact that the viewers can experience rather than a painting to look at.
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