SOFT-FLOWERS (2025) Original Mixed-media Painting by Gela MIKAVA

SOFT-FLOWERS is a large-scale abstract figurative mixed-media painting by Gela Mikava, exploring vulnerability, emotional suppression and the fragile presence of the human body.

A suspended flowered shirt appears almost like the trace of an absent figure, while fragmented bodies and erased gestures emerge beneath it. Floral imagery contrasts with the psychological tension of the composition, turning softness and beauty into symbols of vulnerability.

If you show weakness for even a second — they’ll crush you. Here, tenderness is punished. In this system, feelings have no value. The ones who waver are erased.

The painting explores the quiet violence of vulnerability — what happens when sensitivity exists within an environment that demands strength. The empty garment suggests the aftermath of someone who dared to feel, while fragmented human forms hover within a muted psychological landscape.

Created on vintage Soviet-era cotton fabric, the work combines oil, acrylic, pigment, marker, pastel, watercolor and paper. The history and texture of the textile become part of the image itself, reinforcing themes of memory, identity, absence and emotional residue.

At 137 × 160 cm, SOFT-FLOWERS has a substantial physical presence, combining contemporary abstraction, figurative elements and expressive mixed-media surfaces.

Materials used:

Oil, acrylic, pigment, marker, pastel, watercolor and paper on Soviet-era cotton fabric

Details:

• Mixed-media painting on Fabric
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 137 x 160 x 3cm (unframed)
• Signed on the front
• Style: Abstract
• Subject: Flowers and plants