Untitled 1996

Louise Bourgeois made this 'thing' - this object, this person - with fabric, thread, and string. I love the tenderness of this stitched and wrapped figure. Is it a doll, a talisman, or something in between? It's so vulnerable and exposed. You can see the stuffing, the ragged edges of the fabric, the way the limbs are just sort of tacked on. I wonder what it felt like for her, making this? The lace feels especially poignant - so delicate, draped over such a rough form. There’s so much care in each stitch, each wrap of string. It makes me think about Bourgeois’s own life, her struggles and her triumphs, and how she poured all of that into her work. I also think about the way women were using these techniques to make things in their homes, and how Bourgeois took those skills into her work. How the personal becomes something bigger.