I went to MoMA on a Wednesday and ran into an exhibition there without reading the title and this particular art work draw my attention immediately. I think that’s the only sculpture in that room and maybe that why I came to her directly. The artwork shows strong emotion, the way of how it crafted is unique. The stitches, the texture of the fabric, and the variation of depth were the main factors of this artwork. I felt agony, helpless and some negative emotions from this sculpture.
Then I went back to read the general description of this section and it was called “The Memory of Fabric”. I started wonder why she chose fabric as the main material of this sculpture and I found the answer. Louise Bourgeois was neared in a family of tapestry restorers and maybe that’s why she used fabric in her art work. All the fabrics she used was her old garments she used to wear and she refused to throw away them so she started to use them to make art work. I found interesting since old garments always carry a piece of your memory and that makes sense the title.
Louise Bourgeois’s father betrayed her mother and that impact her art career. She was troubled by this in her rest of life. Her themes are always: loneliness, jealousy, anger, and fear. As a child, Bourgeois did not meet her father’s expectations due to her lack of ability. Eventually, he came to adore her for her talent and spirit, but she continued to hate him for his explosive temper, domination of the household, and for teasing her in front of others. Her mother’s death inspired her to abandon mathematics and to begin studying art, but the deep pain of her mother’s death, she attempted to commit suicide.
All these feelings that she had in her early years become the main inspiration of her artwork.
In this sculpture, the eyes are twisting and the mouth is wild-opened. It was covered by loneliness and fear. A silent screamer. I felt powerless from its face. She was so good at expressing strong emotions through facial detail might have something to do with the gap years between 1950s and 1960s, she was devoted her life into psychoanalysis. This sculpture was covered with stitches and seem roughly made, it might be the reflection of self-healing from her childhood trauma. Moreover, it represents her broken childhood due to her father’s betray.
Louise Bourgeois’s work is abstract and idiosyncratic, just like what she said: “Art is a guarantee of sanity.” 
Sources:
- https://www.moma.org/explore/collection/lb/about/biography
- https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/3661
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Bourgeois
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-vYvqxHejY&t=504s
