THE MEDIUM OF DREAMS: INA MICHAELIAN AND THE LANGUAGE OF VISION

Words by Velin

There is a quiet fluidity running through Ina Michaelian’s work. Her art does not unfold through rigid structures or calculated systems. It emerges from places where thought loosens, where visions slip into consciousness unannounced, where silence opens the door for images to arrive. She does not invent so much as receive, allowing herself to be the vessel through which the unseen becomes visible.

“Throughout my life, my main source of inspiration has been dreams, visions during meditative or half-sleep states, and even out-of-body experiences. I love when others can sense that dreamlike atmosphere in my art.”

This dreamlike atmosphere defines her work. It is not about control or strict design, but about channeling. Michaelian positions herself not as an inventor but as an interpreter, letting the rawness of visions shape themselves into expression without being forced into perfection.

BETWEEN VISION AND VESSEL

For Michaelian, the act of creating is inseparable from the act of channeling. She describes herself with deliberate clarity: “I see myself as a medium — I channel ideas and ‘keys,’ a kind of knowledge that flows through me without my actively thinking or searching for it. My only job is to stay open.”

The openness she describes is not passive. It is active receptivity, a discipline of remaining porous enough to let visions move through without obstruction. These images do not arrive polished or ready-made. They arrive raw, sometimes fragmented, and yet magnetic. In preserving this rawness, she allows the work to keep the strangeness and beauty of its origin intact.

WHEN STILLNESS MOVES

Her practice extends beyond canvas and paper. Michaelian works across mediums, allowing her visions to slip onto jackets, shoes, and objects. These objects become wearable canvases, carrying her imagery into motion. A painting commands attention by holding its place on a wall. A jacket carrying her design turns the body into a moving surface, a participant in the act of expression.

What makes wearable art distinct is its immediacy. To wear it is to carry her vision into the world, to embody an atmosphere without words. It is art as lived presence, inseparable from the rhythms of daily life, but carrying within it the weight of what is unseen.

GUIDING PERCEPTION

Michaelian’s purpose reaches beyond personal expression. Her work is not about dictating meaning but about guiding viewers into another state of awareness. “If I could define the single purpose of my work, it would be to guide the viewer into a state of mind or consciousness where they can see things differently.”

Her art demands no explanation. It demands a pause. It asks the viewer to stand still long enough for perception to shift, even if only for a fleeting instant. That instant is enough, she believes, to open a doorway into a different state of consciousness.

THE MEDIUM OF DREAMS

Michaelian’s practice rests on openness. She welcomes visions as they arrive, unedited and unforced, allowing them to become paintings, drawings, and objects that speak in their own language. It is an art of feeling rather than control, of channeling rather than inventing, of expression rather than explanation.

Her work holds a rare quality. It does not seek to dominate or to dazzle with excess. Instead, it lingers. It invites. It shifts perception through silence and atmosphere. And in that moment of quiet, when the viewer allows themselves to see differently, the language of vision speaks clearly.

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