Mammed Yarmammedov
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, 1972
Mammed was graduated from the Shota Rustaveli Turkmen State Art College and later from the Uzbekistan State Institute of Arts and Culture. He has taken part in national and international exhibitions and art fairs since 1993. Mammed couldn’t see the other way than the combination of realism with abstract art in his work. Only in this, he recognizes the possibility to find his own peculiarities and to demonstrate the national particular qualities of his nation. The artist works in series, continuously comprehending this or that topic. His first series became ornamental. This conception appeared from 1995 and lasted till 2009, changing together with him. In this series, he has started from ornamental qualities of Turkmen decorative art – felt a mat, carpets, jewelry. The following and the most extensive series has become Nokhur. It is the village situated high in the mountains with a specific architecture, with its own traditions and lifestyle. Discovering them the artist started from realistic landscapes, step by step changing series to the abstract manners. The recent series is “Still Life” which Mammed works on now. The works are composed of ancient kitchenware, which was used in the traditional life of Turkmens in the past. Each artwork has its own history and meaning.
Mammed, please tell us how do you work? What technique and materials do you use?
In general, I work in the technique of oil painting on canvas in a single-layer way – “alla prima”.
Please tell us about your creative path: how did you come to the point that you began to write? What influenced your choice? When did you become interested in art?
I was born on June 7, 1972 in Ashgabat in the family of the famous sculptor Klychmurat Yarmammedov. Began to study at the B. Nurali Children’s Art School. From 1988 to 1992, I studied at the Turkmen State Art School named after Sh. Rustaveli.
After, in 1992-1998, I continued my studies at the Tashkent State Theater and Art Institute. K. Begzada at the faculty of easel painting. Since 1992, I began to participate in state and international exhibitions. Since 2004, I am a member of the Union of Artists of Turkmenistan.
Of course, the choice of my profession is connected with the creative environment in which I grew up. However, for the first time I really became interested in art at the institute, when I began to write with a direct impulse of feelings.
Tell us about your series – “Ornaments. Abstraction”, “Nokhur”, “Still Life”. What are you working on right now? What creative ideas do you want to embody?
Above the series “Ornaments. Abstraction” I began working in my student years, when the Turkmen national applied art began to attract me with its inaccessible wealth. The enthusiasm for the patterns of carpets, jewelry and embroidery led me to the creation of ornamental and decorative compositions.
A trip in 2004 with students to practice in the village of Nokhur made an indelible impression on me. The beauty of the natural landscape, the originality of architecture, the everyday life of the Nokhur people, all this has become an inexhaustible source of inspiration for me.
The Still Life series is a kind of continuation of the Ornaments series, in which I was interested in ethnographic subjects. They fascinated me primarily because the most attention I could focus on the image of objects through the art form itself. I was worried about the transfer of material, the texture of objects, the plasticity of forms and colors, as well as their stylization.
Now I am working on portraits in which I want to express the folk “types” and ethnographic features of different tribes. In the future, I intend to work on the “Moon Mountains of Caracal” series, in which I would like to solve complex compositional solutions, in which a non-standard approach to complex analysis of colors, shapes and planes is possible.
What inspires you? Where do you get ideas for new works?
Folk art is my source of inspiration. I admire the nobility of the color of our carpets, clothes, monumentality, and at the same time, the sophistication of folk ornamentation.
Tell us about the first work you sold?
The first work sold by me was the work created during my study at the institute and exhibited at the first solo exhibition. It was also my first work, which was acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts of Turkmenistan.
Who can you call your favorite artist? Who influenced your work?
My work influenced by the art of Turkmen painters: I. Klychev, G. Guseinov, J. Amandurdyev, famous Russian artists E. Moiseenko, V. Popkov, D. Zhilinsky and absolute genius P. Picasso. In addition, I was influenced by the impressionists.
What feelings or emotions would you like to provoke in your viewers with the help of creativity?
First of all, I would like the audience to adequately understand the essence of my work.
Do you have a favorite work?
For me, all works are equally valuable and precious!
Do you dream of any creative project?
I would like to participate in projects where I could freely represent the Turkmen culture, attract decent attention of the audience and perfectly realize my work.
