Lola

This captivating piece by Kathleen Stevens is a breathtaking fusion of urban structure and untamed imagination—a visual poem painted in the language of dreams. At first glance, the viewer is drawn into a twilight cityscape: a skyline of muted greys and dusky purples unfurls across the canvas, its sharp edges softened by a gentle haze, as though filtered through memory or mist. Reflected below in a mirror-like expanse—perhaps a still lake, perhaps the glassy surface of time itself—the city doubles, suspended in a moment that is both now and never.

But it is the surreal eruption of colour that steals the breath: from the heart of this quiet metropolis burst two radiant, feather-like forms in vivid pink, unfurling with the elegance of celestial wings or the petals of some mythic bloom. These sweeping shapes arc across the canvas with bold, expressive energy, embracing the city like a guardian spirit or rising phoenix, alive with motion, grace, and fire. Their presence feels sentient—as if the soul of the city has awakened and taken flight.

Scattered among the composition are delicate flecks of gold and ink-black stars, shimmering like distant constellations or ancient runes suspended in the sky. Subtle symbols—grids, spirals, loops—whisper of hidden maps, forgotten languages, and the underlying geometry of a world where logic gives way to wonder. The entire piece thrums with the tension between opposites: steel and softness, order and chaos, the built and the born.

Standing before this painting, one can almost hear the hum of an enchanted metropolis at dusk. The skyline flickers with life, the river holds its breath, and above it all, the great pink form hovers—majestic, protective, alive. It is a vision of a city not as it is, but as it dreams of becoming: luminous, free, and alight with magic.

Stevens invites us not just to look, but to step inside—to wander through streets where reality bends and the ordinary breaks open into beauty. This work is not merely a painting. It is a portal.