THE TRAUMA OF LOUISE B - 2022

THE MARGINS OF ART HISTORY SERIES or WHY ARE THERE NO FEMALE ARTISTS IN THE 1970 JANSON’S HISTORY OF ART?

Materials: Monoprints on Rice Paper, Yupo, Painted/Stenciled Papers, 1930’s Love and Marriage Advice Manual, Walnut Ink, Salt, Novelty Lace, Silk, Acrylic Paint on Aluminum Panel.

Size: 11”x14”

Honors Louise Bourgeois, another female artist who didn’t receive acclaim until late in life. Her work was influenced by her childhood and a way for her to deal with the traumatic experience of her father having a sexual relationship with her governess who lived with her family. She was very close to her mother and devastated when she died as a result of the Spanish Flu.

Louise’s mother was a weaver from a family of tapestry makers so she often used spider imagery, which she found comforting as opposed to frightening. I used Halloween decorations as stencils to create web patterns. Common materials that she used were bronze and wood so I used that as my color inspiration with touches of the primary or blood red that she favored. Excerpts from a vintage marriage manual were printed on organza add another layer of meaning.