The canvas of emotional states: The world of Maya Sahakyants’ “They”

2026-03-11 - 17:14

Last month, from Feb. 2-10, the walls of the Pyunik Development Center (Buzand 3/1) were filled with a mysterious silence and the melancholic energy of female figures. The venue hosted “They,” a solo exhibition by young artist Maya Sahakyants. In a conversation with the Weekly, Maya reveals the layers of her inner world that usually remain hidden behind thick lines of watercolor and sepia. Roots and the search for identity Maya was born and raised in Yerevan but now spends most of her time in Moscow. She is a student at VGIK, Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, studying to become a director of animation and multimedia. As she confesses, she initially enrolled as a stage designer but realized a year later that those boundaries were too narrow for her. Directing became the freedom that allowed her not only to draw but also to “move” her images and speak through them. The artist notes that being a female director is difficult for her — not from a professional standpoint but from the perspective of perception. It is a job that requires total dedication, where one often has to choose between career and personal time. Click to view slideshow. The Sahakyants legacy: A father’s message Maya belongs to a family of artists. She is the granddaughter of animated film director Robert Sahakyants and the daughter of the director and animator David Sahakyants. David Sahakyants created the famous Armenian cartoon “Anahit.” The full-length musical animated film is based on the fairy tale of the same name by Ghazaros Aghayan and produced by Robert Sahakyants Production studio. The directors are David Sahakyants and Lyulya Sahakyants. The script was co-written by Vardan Zadoyan. The film was created using traditional hand-drawn animation combined with 3D graphics and was dedicated to the 175th anniversary of Ghazaros Aghayan’s birth. She remembers with a smile that her father’s most important advice was simple and clear: “Turn your flaws into your advantages.” Although her family members create in different styles, Maya tells the Weekly she has always felt free and harmonious, surrounded by the support of her relatives — especially her mother, who acts as a unique producer of the family’s art. “They”: Souls on paper The title of the exhibition, “They,” is not accidental. It continues Maya’s “Souls” series. The women depicted in the paintings are not individual people but emotional states. The artist uses watercolor in a unique way: she avoids its purity by “dirtying” the color layer by layer with sepia — a light brown pigment derived from the ink sac of marine mollusks used by European painters since the 18th century — or even coffee to achieve a heavy, melancholic texture. “The heavier the facial expression, the more often I close my characters’ eyes,” she says. In Maya’s work, there is a woman’s silence — the moment of emptying thoughts or being refilled anew. Interestingly, she does not make preliminary sketches; color and form dictate the narrative. She admits that she often creates brighter works during the most difficult moments of her life, and her husband, director Hayk — with whom she is currently studying at VGIK — is the first to read these hidden codes. Between dreams and goals In her conversation with the Weekly, Maya describes herself as a “yellow” person who loves life but often suffers from it as well. She is in a state of searching, trying to understand the pace at which one should live and what to read or watch to fully perceive art. Her dreams lean toward extremes. She wants to see the coldest points of the world and the warmest shores, the sun of Italy and the whales hidden in the depths of the ocean. For her, art is like breathing; even if she could not paint, she says she would write or simply convey what she feels to people. Maya Sahakyants’ art resembles the dark indigo color of the sky just before dawn, which she loves to dream about. There is anxiety, there is heaviness, but most importantly there is an anticipation of the light. As a continuation of the talented Sahakyants family, she is taking firm steps toward creating her own world, where “They” speak for all of us. You can explore Maya Sahakyants’ art on Instagram: @sahakyantss