The portrait of sikkha 1970

Mariam Aslamazian painted this portrait of Sikkha with oils, and probably with a brush in hand. Look at how the strokes are laid down, especially in that turquoise turban. You can almost feel the rhythm of the artist's hand as she built up the form, layer by layer. There's something really direct about the way Aslamazian handles the paint; she wasn't trying to hide the process, but rather celebrate the materiality of the medium itself. The turban itself is interesting, a swirl of blues, greens and greys, which have a very different textural quality to the browns and blacks in the figure's face. There is a rawness to this piece, a certain kind of honesty, which feels refreshing. Aslamazian reminds me a little of Alice Neel. Both had an interest in representing the figure in a very direct way, with an understanding that paint itself has an emotional register. It's a reminder that painting is always, in some sense, a conversation with the past, a dialogue across generations of artists.