Narazyan "sings" of quiet wars, whispered rumbles, personal entanglements and totems; his paintings are ballads

Vachagan Narazyan invites viewers to step into “absurd travel” through his series of paintings by that name. The above painting depicts several figures en route to somewhere, like the legendary fight into Egypt, across flatland (perhaps desert) with a hint of sea under an intricately clouded sky One catches the figures’ eyes, literally, and at times an entire facial expression here and there, like fleeting encounters with being in a dream. The power of the artist’s arrangement of figures against the horizon lies in the varying sizes of the heads: The viewer may explore each glance, each flash of worry, a smirk or a stare, while getting caught up in the chaotic caravan of the moment. A tiny figure dressed in red appears to be straying from the others. Animal forms carry some of the figures and their burdens. In toto, this vignette reveals how mysteriously people play into each other’s personal flights and leads to the question of their survival. Despite that an angel-like figure hovers over the group, the mood remains tenuous. Interestingly, however, such a work of art is to be contemplated endlessly for its sheer beauty and brightness. It beckons the viewer’s heart as though it were a family picnic on the beach, all motion and emotion, stepping forward, stepping back, and always waiting for a turning point. To nourish the subconscious into consciousness little by little, alas, the reason and foundation of art itself.

A contemporary Russian artist of the Ukraine, Narazyan gives the viewers eerily pleasant hints of Daumier, Klee, and Bosch, but all muted, blended, into a creamy wonderment. But no tabula rasa, these works: They are landscapes and events and living beings surviving in our deepest consciousness. Works that make us hum along, gasp little gasps, and subliminally understand life as a vast stage to be both played upon and carefully watched. - Art Critic – Tova Navarra