“… a hanging chain of family portraits printed on Duralar clear paper identifies the subjects of the central sculptures, but the photographs are altered, so each face gradually loses  clarity until it fades. Depending on the lighting and size of the gallery space that houses these works, the transparency of the paper translates the images onto the walls, further distorting these memories.

The dim overhead lights in Gallery 825’s small back room don’t quite project the images onto the walls, but what the room lacks in width, it makes up for in atmosphere. At certain angles, the portraits interact with the red panels, resembling stained glass. It feels more like a chapel  than a gallery.”

At the Poway Center for Performing Arts through March 24th, artist Aazam Irilian offers a series of dynamic, vibrant works that exudes, at the same time, a sense of Zen-like stillness and serenity. Stillness in Chaos features immersive mixed media works that are contemplative in nature and focused on the delicate beauty, precious resilience, and lush colors of the earth. The images offer succor and solace, but also serve as a fierce call to protect our planet. Irilian says her inspiration for the exhibition began during her pandemic lockdown period. “It was during the time that the whole world was in turmoil. In addition to the outside world, my personal life was also changing rapidly.” After 43 years of marriage, Irilian’s husband was diagnosed with dementia which …

Aazam has ancestors in art history—painters like Helen Frankenthaler who investigated flow, flatness, and saturation as an extension of both her body and her consciousness; or Anselm Kiefer and how he likes to bury his canvases in the earth to see what nature has to contribute. Petra Cortright, who uses digital interventions into conventional painting to expose the true mechanics of invention. Visionary artists, especially pioneers like Agnes Pelton and Emil Bisttram who sought to give fixed form to invisible forces and create prompts for interior questing. Georgia O’Keeffe, with her love of the fractal matrix behind all the world, and her feminized ideation of that energy.

Aazam Irilian Offers a Stunning Look at Memory and Loss
At the Main Theater in Santa Clarita last month, artist Aazam Irilian presented a sensitive, impactful, and beautiful exploration of memory – and how fragile and meaningful our memories are in human life. Preserved Memories, her exhibition on the impact and progression of dementia, packed a powerful and poignant punch.

Consisting of five different major sections, Irilian’s work depicted personal and moving stories through a varied and immersive mix of mediums including sculptural assemblages and recorded stories. The exhibition also allowed space for visitors to write their own stories.

 In the exhibition’s “Transitional Bodies,” a series of delicately rendered graphite drawings of brain cells, neurons and more are intricately revealed in stylized bodies on panels of white fabric.

Aazam Irilian’s Stories of Dementia

California artist Aazam Irilian has always dealt with time and memory in her artworks. Over the last several years, she cared for her beloved husband as he suffered from dementia. When he went into board and care, she transitioned from lyrical abstract paintings to installation work honoring people devastated by dementia. Her “Preserved Memories” is composed of three series of artworks. … banner-like images serve as “interior portraits” of dementia patients. The second component is comprised of photographs printed on Duralar. The images at the top are clear, but as they are reprinted down the banner, they gradually fade–much like ageing memories. The two kinds of banners hang near assemblage sculptures of memory-laden objects that refer to the stories with which people identified themselves. The mnemonic objects are selected and arranged on plexiglass pedestals, then adorned with splashes of salt crystals representing the waves of memory, identity, and loss.

Painting the Flow: The Glorious Art of Aazam Irilian

The paintings bear witness to the artist’s process: her immersion in what Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls the flow. Fascinated by people–especially artists–who became so involved in an activity that nothing else seemed to matter, Csikszentmihalyi analyzed the flow experience as an altered state based on total collaboration with what shows up. For Irilian, “what shows up” is the nature of paint, its viscosity, texture, and malleability. She pours watery pigment over the canvas, allowing it to flow into pictorial existence. Then she layers the paint with salt and other minerals dissolved in liquid and allowed to dry in lacey chemical patterns. Both of her materials–the paint and the salts–flow spatially. And Irilian’s mindful concentration on her process evokes the flow experience.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aazam Irilian.

“Hi Aazam, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

I was the girl at school who everyone would come to and ask to draw something for them or were in awe of her science notebook illustrations. Being an artist was not on my radar until my ninth-grade art teacher submitted one of my pen and ink drawings to the district’s art competition. I became interested to learning about pursuing art when my piece moved up to the all-city school art exhibition. That was the beginning of my art journey.

Aazam Irilian, Master of Healing Arts

Spending time with Aazam Irilian is like being in a master class. You’re in the presence of both a teacher and a guide, sometimes unaware that she’s taken you on the road to self-discovery.

She has a master’s degree in education with a teaching credential in visual arts, and what’s perhaps most evident about her is her two-pronged tendencies: creating and teaching.

Learning from Aazam is not just about artwork – it’s about soul work. Among her talents, she paints “Soul Portraits,” which are commissioned paintings she creates for and about a client after consultation and meditation. 

A local program helps domestic violence survivors develop ways to mend their souls.The day Aazam Irilian realised she stopped smiling was the day she decided to change her world – she just didn’t know how yet.  Her mother had recently succumbed to a painful battle with cancer, and her job as an arts educator was taking up so much of her energy that she had little left for anything else.  As she reached a level of professional success that should have brought her great joy, Aazam instead felt drained from the journey and disappointed with the lack of passion and challenge left in her career’s future.  She wasn’t quite clinically depressed, but she hadn’t noticed when the smiles stopped either.  She missed the joy of a fulfilling life, and she missed the art that used to help her express that life.

Release Past Trauma and Move On

In this therapeutic 7-day course, accomplished artist and art educator Aazam Irilian provides a variety of artistic techniques to help you tap into your natural creativity through personal stories, reflections, and authentic artistic expressions about you and your life. In this course, Aazam combines step-by-step instructions in art, imagery, and creative writing as tools to explore your inner strengths and the lessons you have gained from your experiences. Every lesson is a practical and powerful way to encourage mental and emotional clarity for deeper understanding of your life's journey.