The portrait of sikkha 1970

Mariam Aslamazian painted this portrait of a Sikh man using confident brushstrokes and a muted color palette. Can't you just imagine her standing at the easel, squinting at her subject and mixing the paint? Look how she uses color to define the form of his turban, with varying shades of teal and blue swirling around the fabric, and how the individual brushstrokes create texture. The paint looks luscious, and the brushwork gives the whole painting a lively energy. I love how the red collar creates a vibrant contrast to the earthy skin tones. It feels spontaneous, immediate, and very gestural. There’s a kind of cross-cultural dialogue that happens when you make a portrait of someone from a different culture, and I think Aslamazian handles this well here. She's engaging in a conversation with the history of portraiture, but also with the person she's painting, trying to capture something essential about him. It’s a beautiful reminder of how painting can connect us across time and cultures.