Tree with Shoes 1998

Louise Bourgeois made this drawing called Tree with Shoes using pencil or ink, and you can almost feel the graphite on the page. The lines are simple, almost child-like in their directness, which is really interesting given Bourgeois' complex ideas. Look at the tree trunks that also look like legs, they're wearing shoes! It's a little surreal, a little funny, and a little unsettling all at once. The lines are delicate but firm, creating shapes that suggest both nature and the human body. Notice how Bourgeois uses single lines to define the forms, allowing the white of the paper to create volume. It’s as if she’s mapping out a psychological space as much as drawing a picture. Bourgeois was always playing with form and meaning, turning things inside out. Like Picasso, she kept working in new ways, keeping the conversation moving. She leaves us with a question: What do we make of this strange, beautiful, and slightly disturbing image?