Artist Louise Bourgeois reveals her thoughts on drawing

Drawing has been a lifelong companion for the pre-eminent artist Louise Bourgeois, who sees it as 'Another kind of diary'

Has drawing always been an important part of your practice?

I have drawn my whole life. My parents were in the tapestry restoration business, and as a young girl, I would draw in the missing parts of the tapestry that needed to be rewoven. My ability to draw made me indispensable to my parents. I have kept a diary as long as I can remember, and drawings are really another kind of diary.

What does drawing allow you to do that sculpture doesn't?

The drawings are immediate. I get my ideas down quickly. They don't offer the physical resistance that making sculpture does. The drawings do not involve the body the way that sculpture does.

Can you talk about how drawings are an image of the mind, of one's internal life?

I know that when I finish a drawing my anxiety level decreases. The realistic drawings are a way of pinning down an idea. I don't want to loose it. With the abstract drawings, when I'm feeling loose, I can slip into the unconscious.

Can you tell us more of your love for Balzac's Eugénie Grandet?

I'm working on a show about Eugénie Grandet for the Maison de Balzac in Paris [opening November 2010]. I love that story. It could be the story of my life. I feel for Eugénie Grandet. Like her, my mother was my best friend and protector. When my mother died, I fell apart. My father wanted to control me. As a consequence, I ran away to America.

Louise Bourgeois was born in Paris in 1911. She is represented by Cheim and Read, New York and Hauser and Wirth. Her work will be exhibited at the Barbican Art Gallery, London, from 10 June to 17 September 2010

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