Untitled (Christmas Card) 

Editor: We're looking at Adja Yunkers' "Untitled (Christmas Card)," made with drawing and printmaking techniques using ink. I’m struck by how the abstracted figures still manage to convey a sense of playful ritual. What aspects of the visual language do you find most compelling? Curator: The tension between figuration and abstraction is indeed the linchpin of this work. Note how the artist deploys line. Each stroke, seemingly spontaneous, contributes to a calculated orchestration of forms. Observe the texture created through the printing process, how it both reveals and conceals. Do you perceive a hierarchy in the composition? Editor: I see it. The larger figure on the right, with the strong vertical line of the staff, definitely anchors the piece, but the smaller figure on the left, with its raised hand, offers a dynamic counterpoint. What about the limited use of color? The red and blue seem strategically placed. Curator: Precisely! The restrained palette directs our focus to specific compositional nodes. Consider the formal relationship between the red mark on the larger figure and the small figure's red flame: what semantic connections do they trigger? And the textural variation of the gray is quite interesting. Editor: The texture almost gives it a ghostly feel, and then the figures feel symbolic and primitive. Thinking about this use of visual language, what’s most interesting to you? Curator: I am most fascinated by how the artist has utilized minimal formal elements to evoke complex, if ambiguous, meaning. The structural contrasts and chromatic restraint make it an intriguing, resonant work. Editor: I learned so much about reading abstract forms. I had never thought about the intention behind different colors or what they may connect. Curator: And I had not thought to examine these techniques on something more accessible and mundane like a Christmas card, which reframes our thinking about this piece.