Through metal and spirit: The birth of Ani Hovak’s ‘Paradise Birds’

2026-02-09 - 22:46

Ani Hovak is a musician by profession, having graduated from the flute department of the Yerevan State Conservatory. A multi-talented artist — flutist, singer and painter — she is best known for transforming industrial waste into poetic visual narratives. Using discarded keys, light bulbs, scrap metal and screws, she creates intricate collages that breathe new life into abandoned objects. In December 2025, Hovak presented her solo exhibition, Birds of Paradise, at the Art Embassy on Sayat-Nova Avenue, showcasing a series of large and small celestial birds crafted from reclaimed materials. For Hovak, art has never existed within a single discipline. A professional musician who sang with the Hover State Chamber Choir for 20 years, she eventually felt that sound alone was not enough; she needed a visible form of creation. Central to her artistic process is what she calls “3D thinking” and an ongoing freedom to experiment with materials. Within raw metal and plastic, she discovers an unexpected delicacy, which the artist expresses through her collages. Recycling and giving objects a second life, she insists, is not the goal itself but a natural and meaningful consequence of prioritizing art. Click to view slideshow. In Hovak’s creative universe, birds and fish are born continuously. Her Birds of Paradise series symbolizes infinity and the perfection of nature. Beyond this body of work, her portfolio includes graphic, spiritual and ‘Yerevan’ series, each reflecting a different emotional register. Spirituality, for Hovak, is not a formal structure but a deeply personal dialogue with God. She considers herself a person of faith who speaks with the Creator daily, expressing gratitude for her layered inner world. Although she spent years singing in church and still remembers the meditative power of the Divine Liturgy with nostalgia, her faith remains an internal sensation rooted in childhood rather than ritual. Hovak describes herself as a “catastrophically emotional” person. Her inner world is built on shifting emotional layers — sometimes childlike, sometimes filled with complex revelations. Creating, for her, is not an end in itself but a way of existing, a form of emotional survival. “I don’t try to prove anything to the viewer; art pulls me out of extremely difficult states,” she tells the Weekly. Her creative process often begins with vague intuition. Sometimes, it starts with a craving for a specific color; she might wake up knowing she needs to work with green that day. In her graphic works, recurring images of short-haired girls appear, figures she describes as offspring of the subconscious. For a long time, whales appeared in her dreams as well, speaking to her inner world. These images become places of passage, guiding her toward her final work. Hovak is an artist who loves art in all its roots and branches. If she did not paint or sing, she believes she would turn to poetry. She admits that she writes, though she often deletes her work out of self-criticism. Theater also calls to her; she says she would gladly try her hand at either acting or stage design. During our interview, I noticed traces of paint on her hands and asked if she had been working before we met. Smiling, she replied, “My studio is upstairs; I was painting with my student.” She says this with such sincerity that I can visualize the scene like a painting. Nature, for Hovak, is the most perfect artist. She can spend hours observing its colors and forms, struck by their harmony. In birds of paradise and ocean fish, she sees infinity: an endless diversity of shapes, hues and eccentricities. Click to view slideshow. “It is very painful for me to see the extinction of animal species,” she says. “I care deeply about nature conservation. Through my art, I try to teach people to see beauty, making even the most useless objects useful.” In her spiritual works, Hovak often explores the bond between mother and child. Her figures are bathed in golden light, which she describes as a vision. A child of the Apostolic Church, she feels the presence of God continuously while creating. If Ani Hovak’s art were a person, it would mirror her temperament: changeable, emotional and guided by mood. The birds embody joy, the series of girls reflect another inner dimension and the “Yerevan” graphics express yet a different emotional state. Click to view slideshow. Ultimately, Hovak’s creative journey affirms a simple truth: art exists where the boundaries between matter and spirit dissolve. Whether through the sound of a flute or the weight of metal shaped into wings, she continues to seek and find beauty, teaching us to recognize infinity, even in the smallest detail. You can follow Ani Hovak’s creative world on Facebook (Ani Hovak Art) and Instagram (@ani_hovakart). All photos are courtesy of Ani Hovak unless otherwise noted.