InternationalA visit with Garig Poghosyan
The ceramicist, the studio, the experience
Published: Saturday October 25, 2008
Garig and Anyuta.
Yerevan - Getting to ceramicist Garegin Poghosyan's studio can be a bit of a challenge, but once you're there, you'll never want to leave. The studio is perched at the top of a hill in Yerevan's Aygestan District, on the outer edge of the city center. "Just tell the taxi driver to stop in front of Nerkeri Ashkharh" is how Poghosyan typically directs guests to his place. Upon reaching the landmark paint store, you'll trek up a winding road and a couple of haphazard footpaths to finally end up at the magical recluse that is Poghosyan's studio. Its walls are lined with shelves displaying the artist's colorful work - from daintily ornamented vases to plates decorated with pictograms and abstract forms, and coffee cups with pomegranate motifs.
Garegin, or Garig, as his friends know him, is a modest, highly original, and extremely talented young ceramicist. He started studying ceramics in 1991, when he was 15 years old. "In the old Soviet system," he explains, "after primary education, you could choose a trade. I wanted to be a soccer player, but it didn't quite work out. Ceramics school was a last resort. It was the only option available to me, really. The first few months, I didn't like it. But, slowly, I fell in love."
Over the next several years, except for the two years when he served in the army, Garig developed his skills by working at other ceramicists' studios. He also worked from home, prompting his younger sister, Anyuta, to take an interest in pottery. "At first, I was like his little helper," says Anyuta with a laugh. "Then I got more into it from a creative perspective." With her eye for fashion, Anyuta creates unique pieces of clay jewelry, which are all on display at the studio. She also helps her brother with other pieces, especially when there are large orders.
Garig has been working out of the little studio in Aygestan since 2001. In the years prior, he would go to Yerevan's Vernissage on weekends, more for the simple pleasures of displaying his work and socializing with other artists than to make sales. "In those days," says Garig, "It used to be a real vernissage. Now it's more of a market." Since opening his studio, he spends most of his time there, whether or not he has orders.
Garig's art is carried in stores around Yerevan, including Artbridge and Arev Art Studio. He has also had several exhibitions. Every summer, in collaboration with a few friends, he holds a month-long show at Artbridge, a bookstore-café in the heart of Yerevan. For this year's show, he collaborated with ceramicists Ara Ohanyan and Simon Terouni. He has also participated in exhibitions at the Armenia Marriott Hotel and the Arshile Gorky Art Gallery in Toronto, where he had an exclusive showing for three days.
Still, most of Garig's business is conducted directly from the studio. In the beginning, curious guests from Parev Doon, the hotel just down the trail of the studio, would wander up to check out his work. Soon this developed into a steady stream of visitors and a loyal client base. "People like to buy directly from the artist, not just because of the prices - it's the personal aspect," says Garig. "Often people come to me with special requests," which range from the conventional to the unusual. Common requests include coffee cups with people's names on them and ceramic pomegranates with various inscriptions. Some of the more unusual special orders include tables, shelves, lampshades, address markers, and his most recent order, 300 salt and pepper shakers to be given as favors at a wedding.
The best part about visiting Garig's studio is not the wares you will likely come away with, but the unique experience of sitting, chatting, and having a cup of coffee, or maybe a genats [a toast] with the insightful and friendly artist. "I've met many people as clients, but they've become close friends," he says. "I've been very lucky that way."
"Garig was my first friend in Armenia," says Maro Jizmejian, a diaspora Armenian who now spends six months a year in Armenia, with her husband, Kevork, "His kindness and friendliness were a big factor in encouraging us to stay here."
Vatche Minassian, who lives in Orillia (near Toronto) and who has returned to Armenia with his wife, Silva, every year since their first visit in 2004, knows that in Garig he has found a friend for life. "When I first met him," says Vatche, "we talked about his work, the diasporan friends he has made through his craft, life and politics in Armenia, and how he started his career in pottery. It was clear from our first meeting that we had connected on many levels."
"On the last evening of our trip," he continues, "after an emotional two weeks in Armenia, I sat with Garig while he packaged the work he had prepared for us. After a while, we were both almost in tears. I was telling him the difficulties I faced growing up as a young Armenian in the diaspora, while he was telling me about the difficulties of young Armenians growing up in Armenia. The bus to the airport was about to leave, but all I wanted to do was continue our conversation. Two Armenian souls who were born thousands of miles apart and raised in totally different worlds had suddenly formed an unbreakable bond."
Vatche and Silva have revisited Armenia six times since that initial meeting. "Garig continues to surprise us - as a man of utmost honesty with a keen sense of right and wrong and an uncompromising attitude toward his work," Vatche says. "He's more than just a knowledgeable guy and a great artisan; he's a true friend."
Garig lives, breathes, sleeps clay. "Working is like medicine for me," he says. "When I don't touch clay for a few days, something is missing." He works mostly with Armenian clay, which is very versatile and high in quality. "I would mix my own," he says, "But I don't have the space or the equipment."
Garig draws inspiration from all aspects of life. "A piece of music can put a certain image in my mind, or a landscape can make me think of Armenian history," he says. "Lately I've been fascinated by the ornamented relics at Echmiadzin, so I'd like to incorporate elements of that into my art. But I have to read up on it first." While Garig's initial inspirations may be arbitrary, he always takes great care to research them before integrating them into his art. He takes great pride in his work, insisting that if he is not satisfied with a piece, even if a potential client does not notice its imperfection, he won't sell it. There are also certain items that he simply can't part with. Those are on display at his home, which is a showroom in itself.
