Untitled by Louise Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois

1948

Ink and pencil on paper

Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston

Louise Bourgeois (Born 1911 in Paris; died 2010 in New York) utilized a variety of materials—fabric, wood, metal, wax—to craft personal and evocative objects that reference the body, sexuality, anxiety, and trauma. Deeply affected by her childhood experiences, Bourgeois saw art as a way of processing complex feelings. She found sculpture to be particularly helpful, once claiming that it “needs so much physical involvement that you can rid yourself of your demons through sculpting.” Drawing had another, equally important function in her life and work. She had developed her drafting skills as a youth while helping her tapestry-restore