Yesterday evening, I had the distinct pleasure to attend the opening reception for Vartan Poghosian's exhibit at The Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts (in Little Falls, NY). The exhibit is simply phenomenal! Such beautiful and intricate pottery works. If any of the readers of this blog are within an hour (or two) of the venue, it is definitely worth the trip to see this body of works. Although not collage-related per se, I hope you enjoy these images. And as most of you know, this blog is also about the complexities of creative experiences. When Vartan gave a short artist's talk about his exhibit, it was very interesting to hear about some of the inspiration for these pieces. Vartan had traveled to Europe and had rented studio space outside of Brussels for a couple weeks to get some work done. He had expressed some disappointment about not getting ANY work done in that studio space, and instead enjoying the local cheese and beer, and using that space as a hub to travel to other parts of Europe to enjoy the broad cultural and visual experiences. I couldn't help think to myself, "but in a way, he WAS working on his art". I thought that because our creative output emerges out of our experiences in life. I don't believe that we could create like we do, without our experiences in the world. Vartan continued to say that, upon his return from Europe, he felt motivated -- in fact, compelled -- to create a body of work inspired by his travels. Sometimes as artists, we fall into the trap of thinking that only pieces of art represent "productivity". But I would contend that "productivity" is reliant on continued experiences in the world that serve to inspire us in our creative journeys. Was Vartan's studio space in Brussels a waste of money? Perhaps in retrospect (the road to hell is paved with good intention). But he shouldn't feel badly about it, at all. The experiences he had on his trip still resulted in artistic "production"... and that was the goal. Bravo Vartan!
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