Spread of Armenian Characters -Vocality of Silence

This painting contains the 39 letters of the Armenian alphabet developed by the Armenian monk, theologian, and linguist Mashtots in 405 AD. Armenia, the first country to accept Christianity as a state religion, traces its history back to the Hayk-patriarch lineage of the biblical figure Noah.

The piece is decorated with the colors of the modern Armenian national flag-red, blue, and orange. This work memorializes the over 1.5 million Armenians who lost their lives in the genocide carried out by the Ottoman Empire in early twentieth-century.

©2008, acrylic canvas, 36" x 60" (91.5cm x 152.5cm)