Home Altar, 22” x 30” | 56 cm x 76 cm, mixed media (ink, watercolor, origami paper, acrylic, dress pattern, glue, on paper), 2022. [IN PRIVATE COLLECTION]Core Escalation, 22” x 30” | 56 cm x 76 cm, mixed media (ink, watercolor, origami paper, acrylic, dress pattern, glue, on paper), 2022. Available through Front Room Gallery.Angelic Compass, 22” x 30” | 56 cm x 76 cm, mixed media (ink, watercolor, origami paper, giclee, acrylic, dress pattern, glue, on paper), 2023. (IN COLLECTION OF FIDELITY INVESTMENTS)Owl Temple, 22” x 30” | 56 cm x 76 cm, mixed media (ink, watercolor, origami paper, giclee, acrylic, dress pattern, glue, on paper), 2023. Available through Front Room Gallery.Amasya Heart and Bones, 22” x 30” | 56 cm x 76 cm, mixed media (ink, watercolor, origami paper, vintage postcard, acrylic, dress pattern, glue, on paper), 2023Prayer for Mountains, 22” x 30” | 56 cm x 76 cm, mixed media (ink, watercolor, origami paper, giclee prints, acrylic, dress pattern, glue, on paper), 2023. Available through Front Room Gallery.Queen of Darkness, 22” x 30” | 56 cm x 76 cm, mixed media (ink, watercolor, origami paper, giclee prints, acrylic, dress pattern, glue, on paper), 2024. Available through Front Room Gallery.Binary Bosom, 22” x 30” | 56 cm x 76 cm, mixed media (ink, watercolor, origami paper, giclee prints, acrylic, dress pattern, glue, on paper), 2024. Samsun Sunburst, 22” x 30” | 56 cm x 76 cm, mixed media (ink, watercolor, origami paper, giclee prints, acrylic, dress pattern, glue, on paper), 2024. Sun Goddess, 15” x 18” | 38 cm x 46 cm, mixed media (ink, watercolor, origami paper, acrylic, dress pattern, glue, on paper), 2022. Pious Pistons, 15” x 18” | 38 cm x 46 cm, mixed media (ink, watercolor, origami paper, acrylic, dress pattern, glue, on paper), 2022.
Statement: These collages present a devotional space that has elements of the medieval and futuristic. They are first sketched through the playful misuse of found objects as stencils. Though the drafting is precise, the process is intuitive; the structures that I draw purposely hover between architecture, altars, totems, and diagrams. This work memorializes my Yaya, a devout Armenian immigrant from Istanbul and talented seamstress, and includes references to her: dressmaking patterns and embedded religious imagery and words. Some aspects of the collages, such as the vine-like forms and use of gold, are reminiscent of medieval Armenian manuscripts.
