Sam Kissajukian: Statement
This exhibition is a selection of works from Sam’s touring exhibition of paintings made after his diagnosis in 2022. Sam uses painting as a visual communication tool to depict the ineffable mental states associated with Bipolar manic and depressive episodes.
Liminal Wimmelbild, 2023
“Here’s something I regret. This painting was my attempt to show the relationship between anxiety and avoidance. The landscape is populated with all the thoughts and ideas you have when moving towards a goal. The sky is where you hang anything not related to your goal, to do later. Eventually, the landscape of your mind reaches a saturation point and your “to do list” in the sky becomes full. You become acutely aware of the weight hanging over you so avoid looking up, but your mind is so overpopulated that the anxiety is overwhelming. You think, “If I can just get to my goal then everything hanging over me won’t matter.” Soon, the joy of the goal withers away and the sky becomes so heavy that it collapses onto you in an apocalyptic mental disaster, and that’s when anxiety meets avoidance.
I understand this description is too intense for a wall label. So, when I first exhibited this work, I just wrote “Where’s Wally”. One day a man came up to me and said, “I’ve been searching for 4 hours and I can’t find him”. I paused awkwardly, long enough for him to scream, “Nooooooooo!” and storm out. So, that’s something I regret. But, who knows, maybe he’s there.”
Sam Kissajukian
Paintings of Modernia
June 20-29, 2024