Ara Alekian

Ara’s dream about metal sculptures became a reality when the earthquake of 1988 left Armenia in ruins – the earthquake had brought construction metals and different types of materials out to the surface. In these very rusty, transformed and ripped metal piles, Ara saw his first characters and the parts for their construction. “I took a whole pile of metal to my studio and its surroundings and slowly, at first unconfidently (nowhere do they teach how to work with such material) started my search. It was like a kind of Lego – I was designing and inventing my own sculptures”. Ara Alekian "Ara Alekian creates his iron sculptures without doing any sketches. His sculptures are the result of a rather intricate and unregulated creative process in which the component of chance is always at play. They are the result of complete absorption of both creative and technological process. Metal is Ara’s material and welding is his technique. He became a welding master and since then has been working without any assistants. The process is time-consuming as he has to solve not only artistic tasks but also engineering issues. Ara creates his sculptures all by himself". Art Critique by Karen Mikayelian