Garden flowers 1952

Kateryna Bilokur made this painting of garden flowers in the first half of the twentieth century, probably using oil on canvas. It's fascinating how Bilokur builds up the image from a network of tiny marks. Look closely, and you'll see each petal and leaf is constructed from dashes and dots of color. It gives the whole surface a kind of shimmering vibrancy, like everything is alive and buzzing with energy. The colours are so intense, almost psychedelic, especially those lilies with their fiery orange petals. They seem to glow from within, don’t they? The way she renders light, with all those little strokes of contrasting hues, reminds me a bit of Pointillism, but with an earthier, folk art sensibility. It's not just about optical mixing; it's about feeling the texture and weight of each individual mark. It reminds me of Frida Kahlo's flower paintings, in that they both share this incredible attention to detail. Each work feels like a personal act of devotion to the natural world. For Bilokur, art wasn't about perfection, it was about process.