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Apo Torosyan Artist's Statement

I was born and raised the son of an Armenian father and a Greek mother in Istanbul, Turkey, the old Byzantine city of Constantinople. At an early age I started working on canvas and discovered texture. The surface of a stained and weathered wall; the bark of a tree; an old manuscript; a mosaic; a fresco; a Hellenistic or Etruscan temple or an icon - all fascinated me.

I choose "Bread" today because it includes all the three elements of my statement: texture, symbolism, and the ordinary object. I find texture in everything: in our communication, in our environment, in our time, in the past, and in our lives. It symbolizes time. I age things, for example by oxidizing metal leafs, burning surfaces, or using found objects I make them look deformed and more used than before. They then become more expressive.

Some of the expressive forms I use are symbolic, and some are not. They are related to my time and my past. For example, soil and sand, represents peace for me. It can be shared, instead of fighting over it. It also symbolizes immigration, settling, and the beginning of a new life.

"Bread" has endless symbolism as well, beside being the ordinary and the sacred one. It is ordinary for the lucky ones who use it daily in their lives. It is an earthy phenomenon which symbolizes life. The formation is endlessly intriguing. Closely looked at, it is like traveling in a metaphor.

I like to challenge the ordinary. 'The one that we use, see, and don't pay any attention to at all." By restricting myself to a single form, I find the creativity of discipline. Technique becomes a companion, not a stumbling block. The form evolves with the message, and the message evolves into a larger scale.

The notion for the "Bread Series" started in 1976, and I have been developing the actual works since 1992. In the "Bread Series", I use a variety of textural elements on the canvas, including bread, either burned or not burned, which is chemically preserved into an immortal durability in a month-long process, as well as fibers, earth, wire mesh, modeling paste, acrylic paints, and other found objects to create a textural and symbolic metaphor. The works have a three-dimensional sculptural quality, because the materials I use extend two to three inches off the surface of the canvas.

If my work remains in someone's mind, and touches someone's heart and soul, my statement is complete. I am grateful for the opportunity to share my work with you.

Apo Torosyan

15 Hamilton Road

West Peabody, MA 01960

Telephone 978-535-1206

Fax 978-535-4267

Istanbul-born artist Apo Torosyan graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, B.F.A./M.F.A. in 1968, and emigrated to the U.S. the same year. After establishing a very successful visual design company, he sold his business in 1986 to dedicate his time to his art. Since then, he has had many solo and group shows all over the U.S. and Europe, and his work has appeared in private and corporate collections in Turkey, Greece, Spain, France, Armenia, Canada, and the U.S. One of his works. My Father's Letter. 1991, was selected by the Museum of Modem Art at Tonneins, Bordeaux, France, for its permanent collection. His "Bread Series" is also in the permanent collection of the Armenian Library and Museum of America in Watertown, MA.