Cover Design, For a Novel 1988

Aydin Aghdashloo made this cover design with what looks like oil or acrylic paint. It's that hazy, dreamlike quality that really grabs me. The figure is so stately, almost like a cardboard cutout, but the background feels like a storm brewing, rendered with these soft, smoky strokes. I imagine Aghdashloo wrestling with the push and pull of control and chaos, building up layers of colour, maybe scraping some away. Look at that shooting star, like a fleeting thought or a sudden burst of inspiration. I wonder if he was thinking about Magritte when he made this, the way he positions objects in unexpected ways? Or maybe he was just playing, letting the paint guide him. I feel like art making is like a conversation with the past as well, as we respond to it in new and wonderful ways.