Maman

Mediums: bronze.
Location: Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

The image of the spider mother became central in the late period of the work of Louise Bourgeois. Unlike most people, the artist did not feel fear and hostility towards these insects, but rather considered them to be useful creatures, and associated them with her mother, who enveloped her in childhood with love and care, like a spider with its web. A very strong female image carries a certain threat since female spiders in nature very often kill their males so that they serve as food for her offspring. In this image, Bourgeois embodied her complicated relationship with her father, secretly dreaming that her mother would avenge him for all wrongs. The sculptor created at least ten works from different materials depicting a spider, the largest of which is nine meters high.