A work of art doesn't have to be explained. If you do not have any feeling about this, I cannot explain it to you. If this doesn't touch you, I have failed.
Louise BourgeoisRead
I know that when I finish a drawing, my anxiety level decreases. The realistic drawings are a way of pinning down an idea. I don't want to loose it. With the abstract drawings, when I'm feeling loose, I can slip into the unconscious.
Interpretation
Art serves as a therapeutic outlet, helping to manage anxiety and express subconscious thoughts.
In this quote, Louise Bourgeois expresses how art, through both realistic and abstract forms, helps her cope with anxiety. Realistic drawings allow her to capture and secure her ideas, while abstract art offers her a way to explore and express feelings that may not be readily accessible, providing a balance between control and freedom in her creative process.
In practice
In a speech about stress relief techniques, one might quote Bourgeois to illustrate the therapeutic nature of art.
A work of art doesn't have to be explained. If you do not have any feeling about this, I cannot explain it to you. If this doesn't touch you, I have failed.
Clothing is . . . an exercise in memory. It makes me explore the past: how did I feel when I wore that. They are like signposts in the search for the past.
Space is something that you have to define. Otherwise, it is like anxiety, which is too vague. A fear is something specific. I like claustrophobic spaces, because at least then you know your limits.
It is not so much where my motivation comes from but rather how it manages to survive.
I always had the fear of being separated and abandoned. The sewing is my attempt to keep things together and make things whole.
It is not a torment to be an artist. It is a privilege.
I believe that dance is the oldest, noblest and most cogent of the arts. I believe that dance is the most perfect symbol of the activity of God and His angels. I believe that dance has the power to heal, mentally and physically. I believe that true education in the art of dance is education of the whole man.
Fashion is an imposition, a reign on freedom.
How could anybody think of Bach as 'cold' when these [cello] suites seem to shine with the most glittering kind of poetry," Casals said. "As I got on with the study I discovered a new world of space and beauty... the feelings I experienced were among the purest and most intense in my artistic life!
She screamed, the high scream that was neither human nor animal but something terrible in between, the sort of sound that you never forget no matter how many beautiful things you hear afterward.
The novelist does not long to see the_x000D_ lion eat grass. He realizes that one and_x000D_ the same God created the wolf and the_x000D_ lamb, then smiled, “seeing that his_x000D_ work was good.”
The work of a correct and regular writer is a garden accurately formed and diligently planted, varied with shades, and scented with flowers.
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