Self Portrait 1979

Petros Malayan painted this self-portrait in watercolor, and it's a masterclass in how to let the medium do its thing. Look at the way the colors bleed and mingle, creating soft edges and unexpected combinations. The texture of the paper is visible beneath the washes, adding another layer of visual interest. It feels like Malayan is not trying to control the paint, but rather allowing it to flow and find its own form. There's a beautiful tension between the representational and the abstract here. My eyes are drawn to the way the shadows are rendered on his face, especially around the eyes. There's a depth and intensity there that speaks to the artist's inner life. It reminds me of some of the expressionistic portraits by artists like Kokoschka, where the artist's emotional state is as much the subject of the painting as their physical appearance. What do you see when you look at this face?