Thursday January 25th
between 6-7p
Drawing Room: ANNEX at 599 Valencia Street, SF
I will be discussing my artwork on display, Crying Evil Eyes and answering questions. The first artist will be talking at 5pm.
“Crying Evil Eyes,” acrylic paint on vintage ceramic vase, 2023
photograph by street photographer Tony Van Le
Evil Eyes are symbolic of warding off evil. It is a symbolic image that has been used across many cultures for thousands of years. In Armenian culture, the Evil Eye is very common.
My symbolic analogue graphic, “Crying Evil Eyes,” depicts the lack of protection for 120,000 indigenous Armenians who lived in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) and experiences a slowly drawn-out genocide ending in a military assault and cultural erasure in September 2023.
Recent Historical Events Context: In November 2022, Azerbaijan started a humanitarian blockade on Armenians living in Artsakh for over 11 months in the Lachin Corridor- this corridor is the only main access road from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. No one was allowed to bring food, supplies or medical aid to this region, and Armenians slowly began to die from lack of medicine, hunger, human aid, and other supplies.
Since I began this symbolic project in September 2023, indigenous Armenians have been killed by the Azerbaijan military, not only by humanitarian blockade but also by military weapons. The remaining Armenians, 70,000 were forced to flee Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh or in fear of their lives being killed. The week of September 19 th 2023, Over 70,000 Armenians in Artsakh became refugees, and Azerbaijan has taken the region.
As an Armenian child of the Diaspora: stories of genocide have been familiar to me for as long as I can remember. These stories, passed down through generations, are vital to understanding our heritage and how we came to be where we are today.
Armenians never imagined witnessing another genocide in their lifetime, making it more tragic to see it occur in 2023. Sadly, this is just one of many ongoing atrocities targeting small indigenous groups worldwide.
Armenia and its surrounding region are among the oldest inhabited areas on Earth, holding a wealth of knowledge about history, archaeology, and humanity. When smaller indigenous groups are targeted, however, their historical sites, languages, and even everyday terms can be lost or altered, forever silencing their unique voices; creating cultural erasure. I painted my “Crying Evil Eyes” on a hand-made vintage ceramic vase from the Peruvian region, Chulucanas. I altered this vase, stripping down its original artisan work, creating or hiding another wonderful artisan craft/history, but few would know it looking at the vase now. In honor of the artisans in this region, I left their signature on the vase.
As an Armenian child of the Diaspora, sharing our history is perhaps the only way to combat the helplessness and frustration many of us feel in the face of limited Western media coverage. All I ask is that you open your eyes and seek out knowledge beyond these filtered narratives.
Geopolitics, international relations, and justice in these regions are indeed complex. However, asking questions is the first step towards understanding and breaking down the barriers of ignorance. By actively seeking knowledge, we can begin to build a more informed and empathetic world.
Despite the tragedy, I am fortunate to have a personal understanding of home. I owe this in part to my great-grandfather, who, on a fateful occasion, “broken bread” with a Turkish officer leading soldiers who later had invaded their home. This simple act of humanity spared great-grandfather’s family, even as his brothers and their families fell victim to the violence right in front of him.
photograph by street photographer Tony Van Le