I have known Gegam for many moons. Always a fan, it was nothing less than a pleasure catching up with him in his studio last fall.

In all the time I’ve known Gegam, his inspiring dedication to his practice and work’s message and mission, potent yet unpretentious, has never wavered. The earnest impulse and integrity of his work remains the same as the day I met him. Even with wonderful successes with galleries and not too shabby critical accolades from art world tastemakers, his sincerity remains unscathed from the potential demand of a seductive limelight.

As an artist and human, Gegam has always readily explored ways of expressing compassion. At its core, Gegam’s work speaks to humanity’s interconnectivity in gentle but stalwart tones. Flight, freedom, beauty, mythology, strength, majesty and awe are among his favored leitmotifs. Through his paintings, he communicates, dare I say whilst living in a hyper conceptual, politically charged world, a spiritual determination. His aim and approach provide a welcome, rejuvenating hug through vibrant hues that dance, swirl and pulsate.

Gegam starts each piece with a meditation on color. This provides a painting’s mood and background. He applies his main characters -humans, animals, or snippets of a metropolis real or imagined- whose force and nobility are summoned to life on canvas or glimmering Mylar. His figures’ connections are rendered in energetic and at times dramatic visual milieus, with painterly curves, twists, lines, whirls, bolts, or steep angles of color that act as ethereal tethers and terrains that entwine their togetherness. Through delicate strokes and meticulous mark making, Gegam vividly constructs complex platforms that provide convergence and commingling of their disparate worlds. Each gesture and color engagement offers intricate moments that further heighten the narrative. The result is majestic.

What I love most about (Gegam and) the work is its (his) relentless optimism, rendered with fortitude, absent of artifice or tiresome platitudes. He states his humanitarian thesis in simple but bold terms: we are all part of a whole. His greatest pleasure as a human and artist remains the virtue and exhilaration of our conjoined mortal journeys and the tender joy of connection and exploration.