Figure of a Woman, Sibiti? 1935

Walker Evans photographed this "Figure of a Woman, Sibiti?" and made it into a glossy black and white print. The sculpture itself is so smooth it's like a Brancusi. The artist carved simplified forms with bulbous features, so you could almost roll it around. I wonder if Evans chose to photograph this sculpture because he sympathized with the original carver. Evans was always drawn to folk art and vernacular objects. The carver probably wasn't thinking about high art when they made it. It’s about the human body, but in a way that’s very free and playful. The jutting arm, the small, determined chin, the shelf-like hair... the forms are like alphabet letters, and you have to learn how to read it. Evans saw how the sculpture communicated human feeling, intention, and meaning. Artists are always looking at each other's work across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. It’s a conversation that never ends!