Artistic Statement

I am an Armenian-Canadian artist based in Montreal (Tiohtià:ke, unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory) and the granddaughter of four Armenian Genocide survivors. My work explores post-memory—a second-generation connection to trauma carried through inherited stories, silences, and imagination. Trained in architecture, I bring a sensitivity to structure, composition, and spatial logic into my paintings. This foundation allows me to balance construction and precision with the ephemeral, emotional qualities of nostalgia.

Working primarily in oil paint, I build textured, sketch-like surfaces where sharp details dissolve into soft blurs, echoing how memory shifts and refuses to stay still. Vibrant colours help me heighten emotion, reinterpret the past, and reveal what lies beneath the photographic image.

Using old family photographs as a starting point, I reimagine scenes through altered atmospheres, symbolism, and touches of magical realism. These paintings are not reconstructions but dreamlike spaces where absence and presence coexist—shaped by displacement, longing, and the loss of both my parents. Painting becomes a way of archiving, preserving what risks being forgotten. My work asks: What is the truth when it comes to family history? And does it matter? 

Alongside these intimate histories, I draw from Armenian folklore and oral traditions, placing them in dialogue with broader forms of Canadian nostalgia. By letting these memory worlds intersect, my work explores belonging, resilience, and the unstable grounds on which cultural identity continues to evolve.