— Les Amies unfolds as a dual meditation — part visual, part poetic. On the left, a handwritten text speaks in whispers of night, silence, and the fragile tenderness of existence. On the right, Lam’s spectral figure appears, drawn in earthy tones and shadowed textures, like a guardian between worlds. The composition feels intimate, a conversation between the living and the metaphysical, between word and image.
The solitary figure, built from organic lines and mechanical geometry, stands in quiet strength. It evokes both a totem and a human form — a presence suspended in the golden dusk of the background. Lam’s use of ochre and black creates a sense of time worn by memory, suggesting that these «friends» of the title are not merely people but entities — thoughts, emotions, and echoes of the spirit world that accompany us through life.
Through its union of text and form, Les Amies becomes a reflection on language and being. It speaks of connection beyond visibility — the way art can hold the unspoken and transform silence into presence. Lam captures a moment where poetry becomes shape and drawing becomes meditation, offering a serene yet profound vision of the unseen ties between all things.
Wifredo Lam’s work is best known for its fusion of Afro-Cuban spirituality, surrealism, and cubism. His use of flattened space, masked faces, and rhythmic, almost mystical compositions reflected both his modernist training and his deep connection to his cultural roots.
