"Cells" Louise Bourgeois

"Passage Dangereux" 1997

From the 1980's French/ American artist Louise Bourgeois created a series of "cell" sculptures
in which she creates a physical structure from salvaged arcitecture to house a combination of structural forms and personal objects.
These cells are exploring highly personal and often upsetting emotions and events from her life.
In this case she uses the construct of a structure as a barrier, a way to compartmentalise difficult memories, while expressing them. Exploring space and memory, body and architecture , the conscious and unconscious.
Using the contrast of solid, physical things to capture more elusive and subjective ideas of trauma and experience, 
These cells are of the body and of the physical world, a voyeuristic experience, protected by the cage like structure of the like looking at dangerous animals in a zoo.

Bourgeois said of her work; 

"‘Cellule’ Communiste, ‘cellule’ in a prison, and very, very especially, the ‘cellule’ of our blood. That is to say, little entities that are next to each other and are different from each other. Sometimes they repulse each other … So this is a cell. This is absolutely separate. So they are right next to each other like this, and they will not touch or talk to each other for a hundred years."

I'm interested in the way she describes her approach and practice.
using a very physical structure to frame/ protect/ capture a whole past experience in a surreal but strangely relatable way.
For me its inspiring for this project as its pushing the boundaries of what a structure is or is not and moves into the sub conscious, the way we can all struggle with difficult feelings.


What it brings to mind is the subconscious structure of symbols and how we translate/ communicate what we think and feel in a physically structured way.









"in and out" 1994