Ashot Jegikjan is one of those artists whose perception of atmospheres, moments and people is exceptionally sharp. Moreover, it is important for him to communicate those states of mind and moods without losing any nuance. Ashot captures the moments that pass many people by without notice.

He makes note of these moments with uncompromising empathy, observing without judgement, painstakingly. Too often, this kind of attentiveness tends to become a thankless labor, getting lost in daily haste and decision-making. It is necessary to sit down and merely observe every once in a while; this need eventually finds its way out, for example, in art, in Ashot Jegikjan’s paintings. These allow the viewer to enter the moments that they have not experienced directly, because the impressions that they give are universally human.

Ashot’s art has always been light-hearted, marked with the belief that people are good by nature, impressionistic style and vivid colors, and this time is no exception. However, this time, his work is more pensive and lyrical. The colors are more subtle, appearing as teasing hints of color in springtime fashion. The atmosphere is delicate and ephemeral. The dots characteristic to Ashot are a recurring motif – mummuism simply means dots on the canvas. Dots indeed have a spring feel to them: rolling eggs, stacks of hay or fields of flowers looking like millions of dots – out imaginations could take us there already. Ashot captures moments with marvellous detail, revealing not the world of countable things but the details of perception. The artist himself has said that for him, revealing the worlds is also a state of mind. Even though Ashot’s paintings capture certain moments in time, the time disappears for him when he’s working: “The aim of paintings and the act of painting is to make the presence of time invisible.”

Ashot Jegikjan was born in Jerevan in 1995. His artistic career in Estonia started in 1985, and in 1997, he has been a member of Estonian Artists’ Association. He has had solo exhibitions in Estonia, Riga, Helsinki and New York. Before starting as an artist, Ashot was a trained musician – this might explain his sensitivity and skill of conveying perceptions from many senses at the same time.