Inspired by Louise Bourgeois

Getting ready to move is really stressful; I've done it alot over the past several years and I can't say it gets any easier over time. Occasionally I'm pleasantly surprised while I'm sorting through stuff and packing; finding this stack of screenprints I did in 2002 was one of those pleasant surprises.

I really like Louise Bourgeois' artwork, and find her large-scale installations (the "Cells") to be especially compelling. Her passing on May 31st at the age of 98 was a great loss to the art world, but my what a wonderful and inspiring body of work she created during her lifetime! 12 years ago or thereabouts I came across an image of this watercolor she had done depicting various clippers she found around her home and studio:



I was immediately inspired to try my own version using images of surgical instruments taken from a turn-of-the-century surgical supply catalog. I did several hand-drawn and colored versions before I had access to screenprinting equipment; I was excited to finally do a run of screenprints based on one of my favorite layouts during a screenprinting course at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. These are 3-color prints: 2 shades of red, and black, printed on a cream colored acid-free paper.





I always just called them my "Tribute to Louise Bourgeois" --not a very original title, and certainly not a worthy tribute to such a grand artist, but these images occupied my mind and time considerably for a period, and I'm glad to have been given the opportunity to revisit and share them. Thank you, Louise Bourgeois!!!