UNTITLED (HEADS)
In contrast with the late Baroque power of the room, highlighted by eighteen busts in porphyry and alabaster which represent the Twelve Caesars and other figures embodying traditional forms of status and power, Bourgeois’s tapestry heads reflect her unique approach to sculpture and portraiture.
Drawing on her childhood in her parents’ tapestry restoration workshop, Bourgeois was deeply invested in the reparative actions of sewing and joining. Her fabric works symbolize reparation and renewal and explore personal and psychological narratives, moving away from mythological or historical subjects to delve into deep emotional states. The large black head with a needlepoint flower, for example, represents a fantasy or beautiful vision, shifting from external glorification to introspective exploration.
Bourgeois repurposed materials from her past into new forms, emphasizing psychic fragmentation and the need for reparation. The six Untitled heads prompt a rethinking of portraiture from expressing external power to revealing internal vulnerability.