Online
Hrant Khachatryan
In Between
Apr 23 - 24, 2024

Overview
"This project explores what happens in my mind when I'm between sleeping and being awake. I have visions that show my fears, desires, and feelings, and I encounter familiar and unfamiliar people, as well as personal and global problems. These visions seem to be born from many thoughts in my mind, and the majority of them are, in fact, negative."
- Hrant Khachatryan
Details
In "In Between" we are invited into a series of images that reference the artist's recent battles with significant sleep disturbances accompanied by unusual fears related to the act of sleeping itself. They express a fear of losing touch with reality and control, uncertain of what might occur while asleep. This fear escalates into a phobia when faced with situations beyond their control, leading to panic. Often, when attempting to sleep amid these anxieties, a conflict arises between the body's need for rest and the mind's resistance fueled by fear. Occasionally, this tension results in fleeting visions that occur in a state neither fully asleep nor awake, as if entering an 'alternate world'. These episodes are startling, awakening the artist abruptly with a gasp and a racing heart.
In these moments, the artist encounters dream-like visions characterized by eerie and frightening elements, sometimes surreal and incomprehensible. There is occasionally a touch of familiarity, yet everything perceived relates deeply to personal aspects, fears, health, childhood and present traumas, reality, and relationships. Often, the details of these visions fade, leaving behind only a lingering emotional residue.
This collection explores that nebulous world, reflecting on how it is perceived and felt by the artist. In an effort to grasp these fleeting images, they have documented fragments to aid memory recall later. Creating these artworks has served as a therapeutic process and a journey of self-discovery for the artist. Now, the images also function as a narrative, chronicling this deeply personal experience.