The vertical forms in Quarantania resemble the shapes of sewing needles and weaving shuttles. Louise Bourgeois associated these tools with her childhood, as her parents used them to restore antique tapestries.

Bourgeois imagined the shapes as stand-ins or surrogates for people, infusing her sculpture with a sense of personal connection and emotion. Huddled together, the elongated forms suggest closeness and intimacy while also feeling fragile and precarious.