SPIRAL WOMAN JANUS
The Uccelliera (Aviary) at Galleria Borghese, built to house exotic birds, showcases four iconic hanging bronzes by Louise Bourgeois: Spiral Woman and three sculptures from the Janus series. This ensemble explores themes of duality, transformation, and the perpetual spiraling of human emotion.
Spiral Woman embodies layers of anxiety through its tightly coiled form. The three Janus sculptures share inherent dualities in their symmetrical forms, looking both inward and outward, spanning past and future, and merging male and female, revealing internal conflicts.
Suspended as if floating, these sculptures evoke a sense of literal and metaphorical flight. The act of suspension is key to Bourgeois’s investigation of psychological equilibrium and turmoil. The potential rotation of these works fosters a dialogue between motion and stillness, exploring the interplay between change and constancy.