Some artworks carry a quiet charge before you fully take them in. The recent pieces by Antigua and Barbuda artist Kamlah Kew belong to this realm, where near-silhouette figures appear subdued yet glow with an inner force.
The figures move between shadow and gentle clarity. From within these dark forms, a light emerges that feels inherited, suggesting ancestry and the brightness passed through generations. This balance between concealment and emergence shapes Kew’s visual language.
Colour plays a central role. In Kew’s work it behaves like energy, expanding and bending as though alive. It moves around and through the figures, giving each piece a vivid presence. The contrast between deep shadow and glowing pigment creates a sense of quiet intensity.
Each artwork feels like a ritual of becoming. The figures seem guided by a lineage that protects and sustains them. Identity feels rooted in Caribbean experience yet reaches towards something almost celestial.
This sense of inherited story and ancestral protection becomes especially vivid in Kew’s piece “Mokojumbie”, created in acrylic on canvas-board. Reflecting on the inspiration behind it, the artist recalls childhood moments watching Moko Jumbies at carnival, towering above the crowds, dancing on stilts in vibrant costumes and sometimes fearsome masks. Their height and movement held a kind of magic, both playful and awe-inspiring.
Kew explains that Moko Jumbies exist at the meeting point of African and Caribbean lore. “Moko” refers to a West African god or ancestral spirit who watched over his people, striding on tall stilts to guard against danger, while “Jumbie” is a Caribbean term for a ghost or spirit. The figure becomes a guardian that travelled across oceans, carried in memory and adapted through time. As the artist notes, it is beautiful how stories travelled with the people and evolved into symbols that continue to watch over Caribbean communities today.
Through this blend of shadow, radiance and cultural memory, Kamlah Kew creates a world that feels both grounded and expansive. Her art suggests that while shadow shapes us, the inherited light within defines how we are seen.
Explore more of her work at https://art.kamlahkew.com/
