heart flow 

HEART FLOW – Spiritual Abstractions

Heart Flow features a selection of works by artist Vazken Kalayjian that spans his artistic career from the 90s until the present. As the title implies, Kalayjian works from a state of flow, or total harmony, immersion, and focus during the act of creation. Reaching flow state is not only an essential part of his artistic practice, but also the result of a lifetime of spiritual learning.

Like his upbringing, Kalayjian’s spirituality is a composite of different cultures. Born in Aleppo into a devout Christian family, religious iconography plays a strong role in his visual image culture as seen in the abstracted crosses of the Vibration Series featured in this exhibit. Kalayjian is also a student of esoteric Eastern philosophy, and has received formal training in Rinzai Zen Buddhism, Koan study, Shamanic practice, and the Fourth Way teachings of the mystic and philosopher G.I. Gurdjieff. The influence of Eastern calligraphy is visible in his Zen Brush series, and also in more subtle forms in his oil works, which often incorporate script scratched into the thickly layered paint surface.

For Kalayjian, his spirituality and his art are one: a path to self-discovery through mind-body harmony and a heightened state of consciousness in which movement, line, and meditation come together through a formalistic process.

Anna Gargarian

April, 2021

Vazken Kalayjian was an active member of the New York art scene from the early 80s until the late 90s, showing at various galleries including the Cast Iron Gallery, Montserrat Gallery, Pratt Institute Gallery, and at Open Center New York. Kalayjian was a member of the Read’s Art Space in Bridgeport, Connecticut where he has shown consistently over the past decade. His work can be found in private collections across the United States, in Europe, Russia and in the UAE. He currently lives and works in Yerevan, Armenia. All exhibited artworks are for sale by the artist. A portion of proceeds will be donated to the Yerevan Biennale Art Foundation to support contemporary art and its development in Armenia.

vazken kalayjian

Vazken Kalayjian was born in 1956 in Aleppo, Syria, a descendent of Armenian immigrants. Vazken’s passion for painting began as a young boy in Syria at the Saryan Academy, and continued throughout his youth as a teenager in the United States. He met his mentors, Joan DiTieri, Professor Bruce Colvin and painting instructor Rudolph Baranik, while studying Fine Arts at the Pratt Institute in New York. Kalayjian’s work is marked by a vibrant color palette and expressive abstraction, and shows clear influence by color field painters like Mark Rothko and Clyfford Still. Kalayjian’s work is a creative exploration into the self and spirituality. The study of human consciousness has been a lifelong interest which he pursues through Zen Buddhism, Shamanic practice and the Fourth Way teachings of the mystic and philosopher G.I. Gurdjieff. These rich and varied learnings have fused into his artistic and personal philosophy, and manifest themselves in his distinct visual language.  

Vazken Kalayjian was an active member of the New York art scene from the early 80s until the late 90s, showing at various galleries including the Cast Iron Gallery, Montserrat Gallery, Pratt Institute Gallery, and at Open Center New York. Kalayjian was a member of the Read’s Art Space in Bridgeport, Connecticut where he has shown consistently over the past decade. His work can be found in private collections across the United States, in Europe, Russia and in the UAE. In parallel to his career as an artist, Kalayjian leads a global strategic branding consultancy based in New York. Vazken Kalayjian is a proud father, and currently lives and works in Armenia with his wife Jacqueline Karaaslanian.