The Violet Gaze (2024) Original Mixed-media Painting by Gela MIKAVA

In The Violet Gaze, Gela Mikava reduces a frontal face to a small constellation of colour: two dark eyes surrounded by violet, a compact shadow marking the nose, and a vivid pink mouth.

The face is divided between cool blue and pale grey-green passages. Broad violet shapes extend from the eyes towards the edges, suggesting a mask without fully separating from the features beneath it. Their near-symmetry is unsettled by uneven contours and the shifting colours of the cheeks.

The gaze remains direct, but its expression resists definition. The bright mouth introduces a note of warmth into the otherwise subdued palette, holding the image between vulnerability and reserve.

Thin applications of acrylic leave the canvas weave clearly visible. This tactile surface and the painting’s intimate scale invite close attention to the few marks through which a face becomes recognisable.

Presented in a black frame with a cream mount. Overall framed dimensions: 14 × 14 cm.


The visible canvas weave remains an active part of the surface, giving the face a tactile, fragile presence. At this intimate scale, the portrait asks for proximity: what initially resembles a simple mask becomes a shifting arrangement of colour, texture and expression.

Painted in acrylic on canvas and presented in a black frame with a cream mount. Overall framed dimensions: 14 × 14 cm.

Materials used:

acrylic on linen canvas

Details:

• Mixed-media painting on Fabric
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 14 x 14 x 3cm (framed)
• Framed and ready to hang
• Signed on the front
• Style: Abstract
• Subject: People and portraits