Louise Bourgeois- Structures of Existence: The Cells
This work interweaves in it many themes that Louis Bourgeois dealt with during her life and another form of coping with the traumas that she experienced and tried to deal with in the creative process, in which she gave expression to the problematic memories and also to the things that calmed her down, and many of these received different and diverse expressions. Among the most innovative and challenging sculptural works in her extensive oeuvre are the "Cells," a series of architectural spaces that preoccupied her for nearly twenty years. Bourgeois's "Cells" are intensely psychological microcosms: situated within various enclosures, each is a multi-faceted collection of objects and sculptural forms arranged to evoke an atmosphere of emotional resonance. In almost theatrical scenes, these everyday objects, items of clothing, fabric, or furniture, along with singular sculptures by Bourgeois, create a charged barrier between the interior world of the artist and the exterior world that is the exhibition space.
As Bourgeois stated: "The 'Cells' represent different types of pain: the physical, the emotional and psychological, and the mental and intellectual. When does the emotional become physical? When does the physical become emotional? It's a circle going round and round. … Each 'Cell' deals with the pleasure of the voyeur, the thrill of looking and being looked at. The 'Cells' either attract or repulse each other. There is this urge to integrate, merge, or disintegrate." (Louise Bourgeois, 1991) revolves around the desire to remember and forget at the same time. "You have to tell your story, and you have to forget your story. You forget and forgive. It sets you free," Louise Bourgeois once claimed.
Many critics speak of her art as sublimation - directing one's mental powers from activities perceived as negative toward positive and socially acceptable activities. This is a fundamental concept in Sigmund Freud's approach to psychoanalysis, which describes sublimation as a process in which socially unacceptable impulses and desires originating in the libido are channeled into actions and goals that are acceptable and even desirable from society's point of view.
Furthermore, I was inspired by the hyper-realistic paintings of Orit Akya Hildesheim. In the center of her past, the motive of a rope stands out: the rope resembles a hanging rope in the act of suicide; along with that motive, The dual quality that combines the supporting actors in the scene: transparent and delicate lace - as a symbol of absence. Nails - as a symbol of physical memory.
Which made me wonder about those who don't have the same defense system and the mental difficulty they experience. Therefore, in the design of the white shirt, I used images from the worlds of the mentally ill. I researched the pain, the "madhouses" in them in the past, and there is still difficulty in treating people who do not have a "layer of protection" from the intense world.
That's why I made use of rust in textile developments: metals that rust are those whose protective layer against the world is not strong enough to deal with oxygen and moisture.
I stamped the rusty metal objects and integrated them into the design of my white shirt, which was made of delicate layers of silk. I wanted to be inspired by the people who do not have the protective layer and also a place in normal society. Society often does not know how to deal with them and therefore shuts them up in mental hospitals. While Louis Bourgeois could express her pain in the museum thanks to the art that was sublimation for her.
