Louise Bourgeois, quotes

"You have to have the courage to take risks.
You have to have independence.
All these things are gifts.
They are blessings"


"I only work when I feel the need to express something.
I may not be sure of exactly what it is,
but I know that something is cooking and when I am on the right track.
The need is very strong.
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 I'm inspired by the results."


"Art is a privilege, a blessing, a relief.
Privilege means that you are a favorite, that what you do is not completely to your credit, not completely due to you, but is a favor conferred upon you.

Privilege entitles you when you deserve nothing. Privilege is something you have and others don’t. Art was a privilege given to me, and I had to pursue it, even more than the privilege of having children"


"The whole art mechanism is the result of many privileges, and it was a privilege to be part of it…The privilege was the access to the unconscious. It is a fantastic privilege to have access to the unconscious. I had to be worthy of this privilege, and to exercise it. It was a privilege also to be able to sublimate. A lot of people cannot sublimate. They have no access to their unconscious"

There is something very special in being able to sublimate your unconscious, and something very painful in the access to it..."


"What interests me is the conquering of the fear, the hiding, the running away from it, facing it, exorcising it, being ashamed of it, and, finally, being afraid of being afraid."

"When I was born my father and mother were fighting like cats and dogs. And the country was preparing for war, and my father who wanted a son got me, and my sister had just died. Please let me breathe."


"My childhood has never lost its magic, it has never lost its mystery, and it has never lost its drama."


"My mother was a restorer, she repaired broken things. I don't do that. I destroy things. I cannot go the straight line. I must destroy, rebuild, destroy again. My rhythm is not the same. My mother moved in a straight line: I go from one extreme to the other."

"An artist can show things that other people are terrified of expressing."


"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."

"In real life, I identify with the victim. . . . In my art, I am the murderer. I feel for the ordeal of the murderer, the man who has to live with his conscience."

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

"Art is a guarantee of sanity. That is the most important thing I have
said."