After I first viewed Mariam’s paintings, I knew there would be no turning back. I was forever changed. I knew in that moment, I would have to share her work and take her with me, wherever that may be.
The beauty of her self-portraits was evident, but the more I learned of her story, the deeper the faces in these paintings resonated within me.
Mariam’s painting practice is continual; during peaceful times when her studio is still, and at the times when bombs are falling near her, her family, and her friends. Mariam paints, without pause, face to face with a war, with grace, truth, and bravery.
Mariam lives in Armenia, close to the border of Azerbaijan. During the 2020 war that involved Armenia & Azerbaijan, Mariam painted without pause. While her life was upended by the conflict, she found purpose by painting the emotions of war, with the use of her own image. I asked her to explain what this experience has been for her.
Self-Portraits, About War- By Mariam Galstyan
“When I realized how deeply everything in the world is connected, and how different we all are, despite our many similarities, I began to look around with eyes wide open. I began to appreciate that no two people see the world in the same way.
I stopped painting what is visible without me, I trusted my inner gaze, I began to paint the world inside my gaze so that people living outside of it could see it. I love walking art, I love art that has something to say, that accumulates questions step by step, drop by drop and seeks answers in the world, making the artist the only means of his search. Every time I paint, I sit in front of a white surface like a mirror on which one of the sincerest products of "my world" will live.
I like to paint portraits freely and without any obligation for them to be beautiful. The only thing I am interested in are portraits that depict the true person and his feelings, worries, thoughts, strangeness, and moods. He is free to be the bearer of his nature, mood, and colors, as if sitting in front of a mirror, alone, without external conventions.
One morning, during the war, all the colors seemed to condense into black, all the characters turned into a face that was mine but looked like a mirror reflecting the others. Self-portraits that belong to everyone. It was impossible for me to portray the war by drawing shells, explosions, dismembered people… corpses, mothers… I needed to paint eyes, faces… paint them with restrained, strong, clear lines that seemed to be frozen in time…. A few simple lines, a few saturated colors that will tell about the rainy days, about the peaceful, fruitful autumns and flowers that colored life. Faces painted with aching, tense fingers. Brushes that outline a scream that the ears cannot hear, those screams can only be heard with the eyes.”
Mariam Galstyan’s works will be on display at Art Miami Context at McCaig-Welles Gallery, November 30- December 5, 2021.
Each painting is priced at $5,451 which is the number of lives lost in the last war of 2020. We are also offering signed, limited-edition prints for $100. With your purchase you will receive a VIP Pass/ Ticket to Art Miami to see her works in person.
Thank you for your continued support in helping artists like Mariam get put into the spotlight. I could not do this without your help for the last twenty years.
—-Melissa McCaig-Welles (the proud great-granddaughter of William and Lucy Hovnanian, survivors of The Armenian Genocide).
