La Selva de Wifredo Lam
Of all the short stories and paintings that we discussed in class, the painting by Wilfredo
Lam stood out to me the most. I am drawn to more clear cut images with distinct messages
but I enjoyed the abstract work of Lam. Because Lam is part of the surrealist movement, I
think that his work allows for imagination and interpretation from the viewer. From his
painting La Selva, two things stand out to me the most: the proportions of the shapes and
the colors.
Initial glance at the painting, I see an array of bodies with the background of a forest. After
some analyzing, I realize that the forest is a jungle of sugar cane plants and the bodies are
naked humans that are harvesting the crops. This painting is interesting because as I
continued to look, I saw more aspects of Lam’s work. In the bottom right corner, I see a
toucan. There are various masks in the painting and even a crescent moon in the upper
right side. There are leaves scattered throughout the painting and one pair of scissors. It is
contradicting because sugarcanes grow in fields but Lam depicted it as a forest. I
understand the title of La Selva more after seeing all of these parts of the painting that
represent the different aspects of the real world harvesting.
The bodies that Lam paints are not the size of realistic humans. The legs are stretched and
are longer in proportion to the torso. The butt is also an exaggerated feature of the body. I
