Louise Bourgeois Quotes - Page 3

My work disturbs people and nobody wants to be disturbed. They are not fully aware of the effect my work has on them, but they know it is disturbing.

To express your emotions, you have to be very loose and receptive. The unconscious will come to you if you have that gift that artists have. I only know if Im inspired by the results.

Sometimes it is necessary to make a confrontation-and I like that.

The spider is an animal who eats mosquitoes. That's why I love the spider - it is the only way we have to deal with these insects.

Surrealism is anathema for me. Because the surrealists made a joke of everything. And I consider life a tragedy.

I have drawn my whole life. My parents were in the tapestry restoration business, and as a young girl, I would draw in the missing parts of the tapestry that needed to be re-woven. My ability to draw made me indispensable to my parents.

What modern art means is that you have to keep finding new ways to express yourself, to express the problems, that there are no settled ways, no fixed approach. This is a painful situation, and modern art is about this painful situation of having no absolutely definite way of expressing yourself.

I found in rules of mathematics a peace and a trust that I could not place in human beings. This sublimation was total and remained total.

Everyone should have the right to marry. To make a commitment to love someone forever is a beautiful thing.

I like Francis Bacon best, because Francis Bacon has terrific problems, and he knows that he is not going to solve them, but he knows also that he can escape from day to day and stay alive, and he does that because his work gives him a kick.

Artists have to be useful. They have to fill a role.

My knives are like a tongue - I love, I do not love, I hate. If you don’t love me, I am ready to attack. I am a double-edged knife.

I was raised a Catholic. But I am not religious. In my work, I am interested in real flesh and blood.

I dont watch TV. I dont use a computer, a fax or a cellphone.

I work like a bee and feel that I accomplish little.

Look at it this way - a totem pole is just a decorated tree. My work is a confessional.

I was a runaway girl from France who married an American and moved to New York City. Im not sure I would have continued as an artist had I remained in Paris because of the family setup.