Love Story 2001

Arsen Savadov’s “Love Story” feels like a dream you can't quite place, maybe one that someone else had and you are experiencing second hand. The palette is muted, earthy tones dominate the picture. Everything feels still, and poses a quiet invitation to observe. This piece feels like a stage set, the woman and swans arranged artfully by the water. She sits with what appears to be a swan in her lap, either tending to or maybe even creating it from what I can only imagine are her surroundings. It's a real tactile sense of the world. The texture of this world feels immediate, from the coarse surface of the rocks to the slick, cool waters. The woman, almost translucent, embodies an intimacy with these natural elements. Maybe I'm projecting, but it all feels very Balthus meets Jeff Wall. You get the same sense of timeless, enigmatic narrative, where the meaning is more felt than understood. Like art is a conversation between eras and interpretations, where ambiguity is not a flaw, but a feature.