… and I am slowly getting back on my feet. Was tired, firmly in the horizontal and absent even from blogging world for best of reasons last week: a visit to Tate Modern for a glorious encounter with my artist-heroine Louise Bourgeois (not in person, obviously). I like/feel drawn to/smile about/am touched by/marvel at a lot of her work. It’s delicious, meaty, sensual, emotional, obsessive, incestuous, perspicacious (I would not have said this, but can write this!), quite mad and entirely sane, it makes me think and feel, as art should - I could go on… That was last Monday and I’m still swooning. Physically and mentally dislodged, actually physically put out of commission for most of the week, but mentally inspired, so there. It was so good to see so much of her work ‘life’, I knew a few of the pieces from other exhibitions over the years, but most only in reproduction. Went on my own because I wanted that first encounter to be a private one. I can’t walk great distances or stand for long, soon feel gravity pulling at me and pressing me to lie down, so strolling through this huge show and staying upright while gazing rapturously (and of course critically) at artwork would have been beyond me. Tate Modern is brilliant because it’s one of the rare museums where you can borrow an electro-scooter, so there I went and loved every minute of it.
One of the main things that I took home with me, apart from marveling at the breadth/scope/abundance of her work over the decades and up to and including today, is that LB always seemed to do absolutely her own thing, didn’t try to fit in anywhere, worked and works from within herself. This is not to say that she wasn’t aware of and inspired by other artists and what was going on around her, but still her vision was entirely her own. Want to take courage from that for myself, my own work, she shows it’s elemental and truth-in-flux-kind-of-integral to being an artist. Or at least the kind of artist I want to be. Remind me when I'm next in one of my regular doubting periods.
6 comments:
aren't they normal, these doubting-periods? I believe you HAVE to got it to go on...to reach new land. But it's always so hurting and paralyzing. It feels right to create and finish...and let go and for a while one step leads to the next. Until you stop and ask yourself, if this is where you want to got to...
I've never heard of Louise Bourgeois before and had a quick climpse to her work on google. I think I've something to learn more about now!!
Wishing you a refreshing day!
I'm jealous! I've seen bits and pieces of Louise B (my litho teacher printed for her, which was a treat to see in the studio), but such a big retrospective with decades of work to see - wow. I hope it will travel!
And yes, she's always set herself her own questions to explore, and stayed true to that, which is part of what makes her such an artist's artist (maybe?)
hi Marjojo, i am okay (thanks for asking)...just having trouble picking up where i left off with the paintings. aching to just draw and make a book so i can burst out and fill the pages...but nothing has happened yet except for stiffness and a kind of void. let's see if i get anywhere this weekend...
how is your poem going with the folded wings? it's unsettling to hear about you laying awake at night with fears about the future. i hope it is not anything you cannot overcome and find a way through it.
before you put up this post, i was wondering where you've been, hoping it is not M.E. getting you too down. so glad to know that you were out cruising at the museum and getting a rush of inspiration from Louise Bourgeois. i also love her work. i like what she said (in an interview) about how 'drawing opens our eyes and how the eyes lead to our soul'.
when i saw your three feet drawing, i really got a good kick out of the big middle toe. made me smile and think of your sharp wacky mind. wish it occurred to me to want to have a big toe in the middle. i bet there wouldn't be such things as bunions then. such a simple drawing and i am liking it more and more. :).
Marion, thank you so much for your comment this morning - it was a lovely treat and now ive found you!
I see you studied at St. Martins..i studied Int.Des. at Chelsea and wished i had gone for Fine art or cermaics...but this was along time ago :)
I loved reading your thoughts about LB, who i also love...and i agree about her doing her own thing.
I also agree with Uschi about these doubting periods which i so hate but i guess is part of the creative proccess.
Im looking forward to exploring your blog later :)
I really must try to get to see the LB show. I find I want to stay at home and nest and work during the winter month, but have to remind myself to fill that creative well with some inspiration or I'll start to flag by spring! best wishes to you - Cathy
This post is really interesting. I find a lot of LB's work difficult to get into...perhaps because I have never seen any "in the flesh". It seems like the sort of work you really need to walk around and spend time with. I always find pictures of it very confusing. Maybe we will get an exhibition of it out here now that the new Gallery of Modern Art has opened.
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