Fremin Gallery presents Metamorphosis, a solo exhibition by French artist Lis Sam, on view September 1–30, 2026. Featuring works from the acclaimed Blossoming Girls series, the exhibition explores transformation, femininity, and the beauty of the natural world.
The genesis of Blossoming Girls can be traced to a transformative visit to a butterfly greenhouse in southern France. Immersed in an environment where vibrant butterflies moved effortlessly through lush vegetation, Sam experienced what he describes as a suspended moment of grace. The fleeting movement of thousands of butterflies formed shifting silhouettes in the air, recalling the imaginative experience of discovering faces in passing clouds. This encounter became the conceptual foundation for a body of work that celebrates life’s continual process of emergence, renewal, and transformation.
Rather than documenting these moments directly, Sam reconstructs them through an elaborate studio practice. Each composition begins with carefully orchestrated photographic sessions in which floral environments are conceived and built specifically for each work. The artist handcrafts intricate botanical arrangements and sculptural floral headdresses that envelop his models, transforming them into living embodiments of nature’s abundance. These meticulously staged elements are then combined through Sam’s highly refined creative process, resulting in images where the human figure appears to dissolve into flourishing blooms and swarms of butterflies.
With Blossoming Girls, Lis Sam offers a meditation on nature’s capacity to inspire wonder and renewal. Through his singular artistic vision, he creates images that invite viewers to pause, reflect, and experience the same sense of awe that first inspired the series—moments in which the boundaries between the human and the natural dissolve into a harmonious whole.
