Meet Aazam Irilian | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Aazam Irilian and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Aazam, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Most of us have been brought up to strive and achieve more and to do more—to go on without complaining about the hard work and move through regardless—we tend to focus on the production/the end result—we hardly think about the process and “us” during that process. That was me when I decided to become a teacher—I threw myself in and did not think twice as what I had to do—creating a program and environment that would be engaging, serving all students—it consumed my life. I forgot about me. All my desires, passions and wants, were put on the back burner—creating my art was not even in the picture. This absence pushed me toward a dark hole—I literally would see the light being pulled out of my heart chakra and not being replenish—spinning into the darkness of depression.

The day I heard myself justifying suicide of coworkers, I knew I was in trouble. Hence the beginning of my journey of getting back to myself. It’s been a long road, however, today, regardless all the challenging moments, I make sure that I do have time for me and my art. It’s not only practicing my passion, it’s also a healing practice and a window that takes me to a world that is beyond this one.
Achieving balance is a constant effort that I have to be aware of and make sure I achieve it—at least most of the time.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I was the girl at school who everyone would come to and ask to draw something for them or were in awe of her science notebook illustrations. Being an artist was not on my radar until my ninth-grade art teacher submitted one of my pen and ink drawings to the district’s art competition. I became interested to learning about pursuing art when my piece moved up to the all-city school art exhibition. That was the beginning of my art journey.

From then on, I got my hands on any art supplies I could get and started learning about different mediums. My parents in their own way nurtured my artistic pursuits, supporting and providing what was necessary for me to learn more. They were both creatives as well. My mom with creating needlework designs and cooking, and dad with rough sketches of his small building projects he would go on to develop.

I never had any official training in the arts until I attended college. In addition to the fine arts, I studied interior design, architectural drawings/renderings, ceramics and sculpture. I’ve always loved learning and wanting to know about how things work. It’s something that I inherited from my parents, especially my dad. It is because of this “wanting to know” that I love experimenting with different material today as part of my art making process. It seems that I’m always working on several projects at a time—somehow related to each other—pushing the material even more to see what happens. Sometimes the result is successful and sometimes not –however, it’s always a learning that leads to the next breakthrough.

My art career would not be complete without mentioning my teaching experience. You see, I wanted to inspire young people to engage in the arts—to have an outlet for their emotions and express themselves in a safe environment. For eleven years, I’m proud to say that I met my goal and have trained many young people who pursued an art career, some of whom are very successful at it.

Today, painting is my medium of choice where I literally pour my heart out. It is where I come to be present, and allow the creative energy to flow through me, transporting me to worlds that are “intriguing and vast.” I use color, forms and textures to inspire the viewer to also pause and be present in the moment, traveling the world of their imagination.

I start every painting by surrendering into the process—pouring paints onto the canvas, allowing them to dance and mix into each other, naturally and with ease, creating new and unique colors—some lighter, transparent and some more opaque and more intense. Intrigued by the sense of “wanting to know” asking the question of “what if,” I use variety of salt and mineral solutions as if they were another color. As colors and minerals interact, interesting patterns, textures, shapes and forms develop, creating a sense of depth and space on the canvas.

My dreamlike abstract paintings function as metaphors for the moments of stillness that punctuate the usual chaos of life. Dealing in abstraction, I generate tranquil poetic images that blur the boundaries of the recognized and unknown. In my work, time and memory always play a key role—where imagination encounters reality, meanings shift, and past and present fuse.
It is this process of surrendering, allowing and being in the flow that I was able to survive the Covid19 lockdown period of the 2020 and 2021, while living with and caring for my husband, who is suffering from dementia.
As I create, I keep pushing the boundaries, transforming the moment to one that is beyond this world—both for myself, and the viewer.

Life is not easy and does not really stops because you’re pursuing your passion. And this industry overall is not easy and one has to work extra hard to get a break. That said, you just have to figure out how to work through things—deal with what comes up and not give in because things get hard.
I have had my own share of difficult times. And every time, I turned to my art and creative process to ground and balance myself. And there have been many occasions, that I pushed my art aside in order to make things happen, dealing with situations; those were the times that I regret and remember as dark emotional times in my life.
I feel that when you’re engaged in your passion, you’re feeding your soul and doing things that warm your heart—gaining strength to move forward—your passion becomes your selfcare practice.
Over the years and as I became more experienced (older), I learned that regardless how difficult things get, you have to make time for you—that is what I am trying to do now.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Griffith Observatory, is a combination of natural setting and science. best of the two worlds feeding the mind and the soul.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Yorleni Sapp, Executive Director, Single Mothers Outreach ysapp@smoscv.org
www.singlemothersoutreach.org

Website: aazam@aazamirilian.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aazamirilianstudio/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aazamirilianstudio

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ZKno4q8riD4SwOin8Sflw

Image Credits
Aazam Irilian Studio