This picture was taken in the Sculpture Garden at The New Orleans Museum of Art
six years ago by the man who I would discover to be the love of my life. Can you imagine?
I had no idea, then, as I walked through the garden with this tall, gentle sculptor that we would
one day be together. I had thought that you would know immediately, at first sight. A word to the
wise, love can surprise you, and can find you when you least expect it. After our mid-city adventures,
Colin and I repaired to my balcony on Mandeville St. to eat, drink and talk. I remember very clearly telling
him that “if the man of my dreams came up to me right now, I would tell him to go away and come back
later.” I was bruised and entangled at the time, and totally unprepared to fall in love again. Luckily,
he did come back later — or maybe I came to him, when Katrina pushed me back west. Fate is mysterious.
Seeing this photograph now — of me totally unaware of my future, dancing with the spider, I find myself
caught in that amber, that web. The spider’s embrace is a sacred space, a liminal threshold where the girl
that I was will dance forever. My thanks and admiration to Louise for creating that, and for all of her
powerful work. May her journey beyond be both peaceful and enlightening. Goodnight, Louise!

(l’araignée, la maîtresse et la mandarine)
Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, The Mistress and The Tangerine


“My emotions are inappropriate for my size. My emotions are my demons.” – Louise Bourgeois


“I am not what I am, I am what I do with my hands.” – Louise Bourgeois