Find Yourself to Know Yourself

Multiple symbolic threads run through Bayramov's Girls are Resting. The artist’s Turkman heritage, his empathy and his lifelong search for family are all woven together in this richly rendered oil painting. Four women sit together in the warm summer light in front of a sunflower field. Three are dressed in embroidered gowns of deep burgundy, the color of youth and fertility in Turkmen tradition. One sews diligently in the corner, while the other two rest against the central figure, eyes softened from a day’s work in the hot sun. This last woman appears to gaze off into the distance in satisfied contemplation. We might assume that she is the matriarch of the group given her position and the hue of her silken gown. Bayramov’s skilled use of color and composition reminds us of the warmth of both summer and human connection.

While Bayramov did paint his figures from real women, his incredible empathetic connection to his subjects asks us to consider our own background. Perhaps this is a mother and her children, three sisters, friends; a family not so different from yours and mine. For now, we will leave our extended family to their moment of rest. But the threads that Bayramov leaves us to follow continue on through his portraits, weaving a magnificent tapestry chronicling the rich journey through human experience.

This portrait depicts Bayramov's mother in law wearing traditional Turkmen jewellery. This work captures the wise stoicism of an elderly woman who became part of Bayramov’s second family. She looks off into the middle distance in contemplation.

This is a face of knowledge and experience; of the dedication to family; of the importance of maintaining cultural tradition. This is a woman who knows the stories and secrets of the past and in this portrait we seem to have come upon her in a moment of wistful remembrance.

Bayramov was known for setting complex backgrounds in his portraits. In this work, the sitter is placed against artworks created by his students. As an academician of art (and creator of the first school for female artists in Turkmenistan), Bayramov was keen on depicting portraits of young and talented individuals. This work features his student Jeren Babayeva, who is a renowned artist in Turkmenistan today. Babayeva is holding one of the works she created during her apprenticeship with Bayramov.

Her expression is soft and wistful; she looks off into the middle distance with thoughtful interest. Babayeva’s features are rendered in a painterly style and are as bright and colourful as the background Bayramov has her against. Her dress suggests that she is still young, but the complexity of the included painting indicates an artistic maturity far beyond her years.