Sketch for Fire Flower Mosaique 1960

Alla Horska made this sketch for Fire Flower Mosaique using gouache and watercolour. There’s something about this work that feels both cosmic and deeply personal. The colours are vibrant, yet earthy, and the shapes suggest movement and energy. Look at the central form, like a blooming flower or maybe an exploding star. You can see the layers of paint, how they’re built up to create depth and texture. It's not about perfection, but about process. The paint is applied in thin washes, allowing the paper to show through in places. This gives the piece a sense of lightness and transparency, it feels almost as if you are seeing the layers of time. I’m reminded of Hilma af Klint in the way Horska combines abstraction with a symbolic language. Like Klint she was forging her own path, pushing the boundaries of what art could be. It’s a reminder that art is always a conversation, a back-and-forth between artists, ideas, and materials.