In his work Armando always strives towards achieving a balance between the subjective and the objective. If abstract paintings are born out of figurative ones, then in Armando’s work these two aspects of human duality approach one another in a mutual balance and unity.
Armando’s paintings are faithful to their sources. The artist from London with Turkish background dematerialises the nominal subject, creating a depiction of the idea embedded in the picture’s spiritual values. The true abstraction is two-fold, comprising analytical compositional methods and an a priori commitment to abstract representations of the story’s spiritual values. Armando enters into the idea of the subject by using a technical approach related to Cubism. He then moves to a reduction and stylisation of form related to Kandinsky’s compositions, which reveals the form’s spiritual essence.
Armando orchestrates his pictures by the use of traditional techniques, with the discipline of a craftsman and the freedom of a dancer. He knows his palette as a musician knows his notes, using pigments that yield Byzantine, Venetian and Oriental tones, as described by John Ruskin who valued colour above all: “The fact is, none of us enough appreciate the nobleness and sacredness of colour…The fact is, that of all God’s gifts to the sight of man, colour is the holiest, the most divine, the most solemn.”
The magic that envelopes his canvases is nothing but a pure commitment to spiritual expression.
Armando’s imagery is compelling, lyrical and passionate. In modern philosophical parlance, Armando’s pictures are the manifestation of Being and Becoming, for in them dwells a fascinating depth of feeling that transcends everyday realities.