Serj Tankian is a rock star, activist, artist and a master of turning his own stream of consciousness into profound political messages.

He's best known as the lead singer of legendary metal band System of a Down - a musical outfit whose deft fluctuation between haunting melodies and jovial cacophony has been selling out shows internationally for over two decades.

Today however, he's a salt-of-the-earth artist, showing his latest exhibition Teetering On The Edge at The Vivian gallery in Matakana, not far from where he lives with his family.

"I was an activist before becoming a musician, before becoming a composer," he says.

"So for me, one of the most amazing vehicles of the arts, is to be able to bring that truth out about things, and also spread awareness."

Throughout his various art forms over the years, there's a persistent focus on the Armenian genocide that began on April 24, 1915, the day before the Anzacs landed at Galipoli.

Tankian's grandparents were survivors of the atrocities that saw a campaign of mass killings conducted against 1.5 million Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire. It's become a theme that informs and influences much of his work.