Tree with Red Crutch 1998

Louise Bourgeois made this print called "Tree with Red Crutch" using simple lines and bold color. I wonder what it was like for her working on this piece, layering line after line to form that tree, and then placing the crutch so precisely. There's something so vulnerable about the black lines outlining the tree, and the red crutch seems to imply support, or maybe dependence. Was she thinking about nature and what it means to lean on something for support when she made it? It reminds me a little of Joan Mitchell’s late paintings, which were also created with a sense of fragility and longing. It makes me think about how we, as artists, reach out to each other across time, picking up on each other’s ideas and experiences. Bourgeois' art embodies a sense of ambiguity and uncertainty. It opens up multiple ways of thinking about our own needs, and how we find support in unexpected places.