Female Figure 1900 - 1925

This Yombe "Female Figure" was carved from wood, and the process is right there on the surface. I love how the dark and light areas define the form with a simplified elegance. You can almost feel the artist’s hand shaping the wood, paring it back with a chisel or knife, and they’re so interesting to look at - notice the areas of unpainted wood that create the figure's torso, and the breasts and how the face is so clean and smooth, like hard boiled eggs. There’s a rawness and an honesty to the carving, the forms rendered with a directness that reminds me a little of some of Gaston Lachaise’s sculptures. Like his work, this feels very bodily and free, not afraid to show or celebrate the body. There’s so much you can learn from seeing and making. You just have to keep looking and let the conversation begin.