My work is an intimate portrayal of the human soul explored through the medium of etching, expressed in a distinctly female voice.

The content is inspired by universal and personal mythologies. The work is poetic and often narrative in its nature and reads as both contemporary and timeless. I cut, fold and overlay my works, often printing on glass or other transparent surfaces thus creating imagery that is multidimensional in terms of both form and meaning. The feminine voice of my work is tactile and urgent, fragile yet strong, gentle yet enquiring. At times it floats weightlessly above the labyrinth of being a woman at other times it delves into the darkest corners of the female psyche. The technique of etching uniquely reflects and informs the spirit of my work. I draw with a needle onto a plate, allowing the image to quietly grow, whilst a fragile silver line emerges from a dark background as if a distant memory was traced from the unconscious. The initial image undergoes metamorphosis as the alchemical process of etching progresses through each of its stages.

Míla Fürstová

Mila Fürstová (*1975) is an internationally recognized Czech artist based in the United Kingdom. She studied Fine Arts and English Language and Literature at Charles University and Graphic Arts at the University of Gloucestershire and the Royal College of Art in London. Her works are an integral part of private and public collections, including the art collection of Queen Elizabeth II and the V&A Museum in London. She creates using the etching technique, and her work is characterized by multidimensionality, achieved by frequent folding and cutting of the material or repeated printing on glass and other transparent surfaces. The result is often poetic works that are an intimate portrait of the human soul from a woman’s perspective. She came to the attention of the general public by creating the cover of the music album Ghost Stories by the British band Coldplay in 2014. The world-renowned curator Grayson Perry placed her monumental graphic All the Rivers That Flow Through Me among the works of the most important contemporary artists at the legendary The Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. The Czech public knows her work in the form of a large composition of wings for the Mattoni company or illustrations for the books Bouquet by Karel Jaromír Erben (Odeon, 2020), Grandma by Božena Němcová (Odeon, 2021) and May by Karel Hynek Mácha (Oden, 2023). In 2024, the Museum of East Bohemia in Hradec Králové organized the largest exhibition to date of the author’s work Taj jemnosti alebo Návraty domů, accompanied by a descriptive catalog of the same name.

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

2025

Fragility as a Strength, Galerie Vltavín, Prague, CZ

2024

Delicate Matters, Hradec Králové, CZ
Lásky čas, Galerie 105, Třeboň, CZ

 

2015

Graphic Work – Coldplay and Beyond, MIRO Gallery, Prague
Refined Gallery in the Garden, Essex

2014

COLDPLAY – Ghost Stories to benefit the Kids Company, London
Her Wings, Eames Fine Art, London

2013

Surface Tension, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong

2012

Women in Art, The Brook Gallery

2011

Poetry of Light, Jagged Art, London

2010

Mila Furstova, New Works, Number Nine the Gallery, Birmingham

2009

Mila Furstova, New Works”, The Air Gallery, Mayfair, London
Mila, Martins Gallery, Cheltenham
Celeste, Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham
In Between Dreams II, Gallery 10, Washington, USA

2008

In Between Dreams, Gallery 94, Fitzrovia, London
History in the Making, Berkeley Castle, Berkeley, UK

2007

Of Myths And Mind Games, The Czech Honorary Consulate, Chicago, USA
Graficke Cykly II, Galerie Anderle, Prague, Czech Republic

2006

Of Myths And Mind Games, The Czech Center, New York, USA
A Celebration Of Mila, Martin’s Gallery, Cheltenham, UK
Of Myths And Mind Games, The Czech Embassy, Washington, USA
Grafiky, Galerie Anderle, Prague, Czech Republic
Míla, Number Nine The Gallery, Birmingham