Eastern Lighthouse 2010

Arsen Savadov's painting is a real head-scratcher, it's filled with figures and objects rendered in thin layers of paint that somehow feel both precise and totally unhinged. It's like he's building up the image bit by bit, letting each layer inform the next, like a conversation with the canvas itself. Look at how the figures are constructed, with these careful lines and washes of color. The paint's so thin in places, you can almost see the canvas underneath, and that translucency gives the whole thing a kind of dreamlike quality. Then there are those hard crystal forms, pushing against the soft flesh. Savadov plays with contrasts, making your eye bounce around the painting, trying to make sense of it all. I'm reminded of Sigmar Polke, especially in the way he embraces ambiguity and lets the image unfold organically. This painting isn't about answers, it's about questions, about the messy, complicated process of seeing and thinking.