The Fridge Is Empty (Louise Bourgeois). 2019. Hand embroidery on linen. 21.5 x 16 in. (54.6 x 40.6 cm)

The fridge is empty. You don’t
eat when you’re alone. Cooked
enough in your life. The family.
Always ready to pull up a chair.
In Easton, at the table: Robert,
the children, their friends . . .
with a collective clear conscience
. . . the food would get to the
table all by itself, like magic,
every day a different dish, no
one even asking where it all
came from. And you cooked it
up, put it on plates, and then
washed them up without anyone’s
even noticing, to the point that
they’d say compassionately,
encouragingly, “But do come sit
with us—we never get to see
you.”

— Jean Frémon
“Now, Now, Louison”