Grey Stripe Mammoth Sunflower (For Audra) Portrait of Audra by Monique Sarkessian
From the artist Monique Sarkessian: When my cousin’s wife was murdered, I was shaken and devastated. She was a beautiful happy woman. She was always positive, warm and loving and made me and everyone else feel very good to be around. Even when I felt uncomfortable with my own family, she always made me feel welcome. When she died, her three sons were left orphans. I had planted some sunflowers in my garden and the largest of them bloomed first with a bright gold sunny head just like Audra, its face bright against the clear blue sky. As I was outside painting, I just kept observing how beautiful it was and how much it reminded me of her as I painted and wept. I painted and wept through the whole process. This is the painting I did 6 years ago about my cousin’s wife Audra.
Admirers comment that my work urges them to see beyond the subject matter. My purpose of painting of a quince blossom is not to make an illustration or to render photographic detail. My purpose is similar to that of Asian art, to take the viewer beyond and find the essential soul in the subject which allows the viewer to find a path to meditation through the truths expressed. The way I work draws the viewer to expand in themselves their own comprehension of the subject.
From the curator: When this project first started, it was thought that many of the artists would interpret the idea of a portrait in non-traditional, non-representational ways. This portrait is one of the few that take an entirely symbolic approach. Monique describes so perfectly the aim of this project and the portraits. We seek to convey the essence of the people depicted and to allow the viewer and subject to meet soul to soul. This vibrant, impasto-ed painting is so effective in its communication with us. The flower seems a head with two leaf arms and she seems to be bending in to us, those arms wide and welcoming. Monique went on to paint smaller sunflowers in her garden to represent Audra’s three small sons.
Grey Stripe Mammoth Sunflower (For Audra) by Monique Sarkessian oil on canvas 24” x 30” 2011
