Female Figure c. 20th century

This little wood sculpture, made by an Ewe artist, has presence. I can imagine the artist, maybe a sculptor, maybe a whittler, holding the wood, feeling its grain and weight. Look at how the figure emerges—the simple, strong gestures, the carved lines forming a face, a body. The white slip is like a layer of paint, softening the wood, giving it a ghostly quality. Those little black feet anchor her to the ground. I wonder what the artist was thinking, what feelings they were trying to capture. Is this a portrait, a memory, a symbol? Maybe the act of carving was a form of meditation, a way to connect with something deeper. We see the way the wood has been worked, the marks of the tool, the artist’s touch. Artists have always been in conversation with one another through time. And each carving, each painting, each gesture is a continuation of that dialogue, a way of seeing and experiencing the world.