Original artwork description:

This series by Georgian artist Gela Mikava captures the quiet strength and cultural richness of women from diverse traditions. Rendered in soft yet striking hues, each figure stands poised against a minimal background, their traditional garments and jewelry evoking deep-rooted histories. The use of vertical drips and a dark horizontal line across the canvas suggests memory in decay, identity in transition, and cultural distance.

Mikava’s technique merges delicate figuration with abstraction, inviting viewers to reflect on femininity, heritage, and the poetic fragmentation of cultural narratives in a globalized world. These portraits are not just about external attire—they are meditations on dignity, memory, and the veiled power of presence.

Each piece is unique, painted in oil and mixed media on canvas, and speaks both to the specific and the universal.
Cultural Portraits

Materials used:

acrylic on linen canvas

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