Untitled c. 1970

Editor: So, this is an Untitled watercolor drawing by Edward Avedisian, around 1970. It's a series of overlapping geometric shapes in varying shades of red and brown. I find it very grounding and earthy, almost like looking through a dense forest, but somehow still abstract. What strikes you when you look at this? Curator: Ah, yes, earthy… grounding. It makes me think of tree trunks, but perhaps more of a feeling of standing within nature than an actual depiction. The bleeds in the watercolor are so alive, aren’t they? They seem to let the shapes breathe, like living things. Avedisian’s abstract expressionism here is very subtle and nuanced. Do you see any sense of movement or stillness? Editor: I see both, actually! The lines themselves are quite rigid and still, but the way the watercolor blends and blurs, particularly where the colors overlap, definitely gives a sense of movement. It's a controlled chaos. Curator: Controlled chaos, I love that. Almost like holding conflicting feelings in your own self – stillness in my core, the edges of me running and raw. Do you feel that juxtaposition between order and chance speaks to that inner state? Editor: I think it does, yes! It almost feels like an internal landscape, if that makes sense? This feels very intuitive to me. Curator: Beautiful. Yes, I agree, that push and pull…art doesn't have to "mean" something specific; it’s felt. We meet it, it meets us, and some kind of reflection stirs. Like seeing our own hearts beat a bit differently within the colours. Thanks for sharing that moment with me. Editor: Thank you! It’s amazing to see the potential for emotional complexity in what seems like such a simple abstract composition. I’ll never look at watercolors the same way again.