Arshak Sarkissian

Arshak Sarkissian is an Armenian painter of metaphysical and imaginary worlds, brought to life through works that pulse with juxtaposition and paradox.

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In his works, mystical and realistic elements blend and intertwine, guiding us on a journey that dips in and out of the material world. His canvases teem with fantastical, eccentric figures that feel uncannily contemporary. They are at once extraordinary and ordinary; strikingly unfamiliar, yet disconcertingly familiar; inhuman, yet deeply human; joyful, yet shadowed by sorrow; dreamlike, yet firmly grounded in a reality that feels tangible.​ Often depicted in moments of play, dance, metamorphosis, or self-discovery, Sarkissian’s characters brim with emotion, temperament, and personality. In all their strangeness, they explore the complexities and contradictions that define the human experience. They glare at us, beckoning us into layered, multidimensional realms that challenge our perception of reality; realms that reflect the volatility of the human psyche, what Sarkissian himself refers to as one’s ‘personality.’

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Sarkissian’s work exhibits the influence of South American Magic Realism and Asiatic Shamanistic traditions. His artistic process is grounded in the techniques of the Old Masters of the Renaissance. Yet, his brushwork and colour palettes evoke the expressive intensity of Emil Nolde, and the chaos and unpredictability of his scenes call to mind the visionary world of Hieronymus Bosch – a catastrophic chaos perhaps shaped, at least in part, by the trauma of the devastating earthquake he survived as a child, which forced him to abandon his childhood home.​ His figures exude the energy, resilience, and spirit of his people – a diaspora marked by hardship, yet animated by an enduring love for their culture, their history, and the full spectrum of life in all its complexity.