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The Tree and Me (A tribute to the Sculptor – Varoujan Mardirian)
Ah when I gaze upon the wood and shapes pf trees, my eyes they please, their smells I love, their flowers blossoming, as the clouds that sail on by above… Speak to me oh Olive tree, with waves of Music whistling through the breeze along the Mediterranean Sea-Beirut, my home, my love, where your graceful lovely branches meant so much to others long before you gave yourself to me… Orange blossoms – soft and fragrant…how your perfumed juices quench a thirsty soul, along the groves you stretch, refresh, rebirth, so warm and full of color, so sweet a taste, a warm Embrace…how can I ever capture what I feel within my own heart’s race? And Sycamore…an open door inviting me to enter into a wondrous place I’ve never been before…your color warm, your lines reborn as if a Priestess were herself a beauty, simple ah! And oh so unadorned!
The
Driftwood
there along the shore…oh I implore, how many places, faces, sea birds have
you seen before? A silent
Whisper
from the sea, abandoned on the sand you wait, I gaze at you an contemplate! You split and spread with time you wed and birthing Twins, it’s life you give to earth instead. Through centuries the tales and gospel verse that wise men spoke, oh tall great Oak, Anticipation of our unknown future, such a thrill in me your tigered lines evoke! Unveiling Masks that peel away. An Artist’s Whim begins the day! The Eucalyptus stands among the hills, with cures that thrill, healing powers…sick and lame and building will, and spreads its presence to the lands beyond…of you I’m fond, when sensing smoothness near your surface of eternal unity…a soothing cure that is not only mine to see. Iroko…blessed with so much meaning where Dawn and Lovers are Inseparable, so hard to tell, where Thought and memory begin or end, I just surrender to each Dream and Thought…your love so rare, like Orchid flowers we’ve sought…A beauty everlasting as Madonna who gave birth…so rich in worth… |
A holy Blessed Maternity for all he world to wonder, love and share through all Eternity…I hail the long cool Pines…they’re so divine…their slenderness so sleek…refined! The scent of you and all you do, of carpets from your needles on the earth, and on each Christmas day you spread such mirth! Your shape transcends and makes amends…United in a time that’s passed…but how you last…! The Avocado bearing fruit so green with seed, life’s endless root… Katrany growing every strong a Homage to a Poet and summer song… And then dear Cypress wise and wide, we cannot hide, like Spoiled children we play, we rest, we picnic…languish by your side…pay homage to all who lived and died…! In Prayer and bent there on my knees, I sculpt a shape – Mahogany…red, smooth and warm, you take such form…and outlive Mother Nature’s scorn…No fire on flame, no blood, no pain…nostorm or thunder…together we create such wonder. Oh Tree and Me…do others see, the life you breathe inside of me? We live…we die…we laugh, we cry…we often stop and ponder why, we love, we sing, we sigh, we mate. Oh tell me is this written as our fate? Through time and space, I sculpt and mold…although I age, you don’t grow old… Oh Tree…from me…you live…you live…breathe back the life you breathed in me… Oh Tree…Oh Tree… Oh Tree and Me!
By Joanne Tawfilis (3/99) On the occasion of the Avenida de Los Artistas Gallery Exhibition Vienna, Austria March 30-April 30th 1999 |
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Opinions
Varoujan Mardirian never uses a model. He always invents his subjects. Smoothing the volumes of the feminine body, pursuing an internal vision that he tries each day to capture, the forms, when they start to exist, possess a power that defies analysis. Their power resides in the most intimate human sentiments. In the silence announcing the bustle of an opening night, these self absorbed effigies respond to our élan. Hermetic, fascinating, erotic, molded with expert hands, light and shadow are interwoven on a work which is patient yet fierce.
Sonia Nigolian, La Revue Du Liban
Mardirian’s sculptures are multifaceted. Each facet has myriad expression, through which a given work is endowed with more than one meaning and dimension. The biggest portion of his work is a celebration of the feminine body, an attestation to the mystery of love, as well as an everlasting rebirth of the human being. Meanwhile, another collection represents silence and the legend of womanhood.
May Mnassa, An-Nahar
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