Armenian artist Sarko Meené wants you to break free from digital distractions through serene watercolours

“As a child I would observe people around me and wonder why they do the things they do or say things they say,” Yerevan-based artist Sarko Meené told The Calvert Journal. “I am always paying attention to details and wondering how nature controls our surroundings — or even how it gives us freedom.”

Her work is currently on show at Telos, a solo exhibition in Yerevan’s Latitude Art Space. The exhibition features pastel-coloured watercolour paintings from the series Something Small, inspired by nature’s geometrical figures, as well as a conceptual installation made of metal mesh, called Identity.

Meené has fully devoted herself to art since her early 20s, following her career as a professional tennis player. She uses her art as a reminder to modern society to escape the digital realm and instead focus on the present moment and the intrinsic beauty of our surroundings. “Tactility and materials are so important in art, because the energies that generate from an artwork are all lost when it is digitised. Art is very real, it should not be transformed into a platform that can one day easily cease to exist.”

For the exhibition, Meené teamed up with Armenian composer Hayk Karoyi to design a sound experience for the viewer. “Although I love silence, and I believe that art should be viewed in silence and still be able to shake the viewer, I noticed that with music, I am able to help people focus on it more,” explains Meené. “Maybe we are too distracted nowadays, and we need a third element in order to create the bond between the viewer and the artwork.”

The show also marks the reopening of the gallery, set in an industrial space in the outskirts of Yerevan. Latitude Art Space was inaugurated in 2019, yet it had to first close its doors due to the coronavirus pandemic, and then the space served as a shelter for refugees during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War.