the spider, the mistress and the tangerine

Last week, I watched a documentary about Louise Bourgeois. I've always found her sculptures to be rather challenging. I have difficulty discerning what they remind me of or understanding how they make me feel... at least not enough to produce some kind of opinion about her work. Nevertheless, I find her to be a remarkable 98 year old woman and admire her significance in the history of contemporary art.

This particular portrait of her was a sort of unstructured, meandering chronology of her life. What struck me was her candid use of metaphor and languid articulation of profound insights... of which she expressed with an impressive nonchalance. She said several things that I wanted to spend more time thinking about, but couldn't remember where in the film she said them. I do remember her saying this, "How are you going to be likable and be yourself?"