Marketta on Lázeňská street, Prague 1985

Maria Bozoky made this watercolor on paper, Marketta on Lázeňská street, Prague. Look at the blues, blacks, browns, and creams. Notice how Bozoky has allowed them to move freely to create this scene. I imagine her, brush in hand, eyes fixed on her subject, the paper a site of inquiry for what she sees before her. The watercolor bleeds and pools, but I can also see the controlled marks of her pen that give real definition to the figure in the foreground. It’s as if Bozoky is thinking and feeling her way through the composition. I love how she suggests a likeness with just a few strokes, capturing an idea of the thing rather than describing it in detail. There's a dialogue happening between line and wash, between observation and abstraction. Her fellow painters and the world around her no doubt encouraged this wonderful piece of embodied expression, where ambiguity and uncertainty open up endless possibilities.