From My Grandmother’s Hands
I’m a multidisciplinary artist and writer using photography, printmaking, video and other media to tell stories that imagine the future, connect with ancestors, and explore our relationship to the natural world. My practice examines questions of identity, community, healing, and hope. Growing up as a queer, diasporan American and descendent of genocide survivors, I’m passionate about amplifying diverse voices inspiring change, celebrating the role women play in the survival and evolution of cultures and communities. The images I create imagine a future world of inclusivity for all and love for the land. Ancient lands and their people, whose ancestors also endured the trauma of genocide and displacement, are re-presented as healed bodies and spaces. My work merges ancestral traditions with futurist visions, grounding my artistic expression in historical motifs, objects, sacred places and the natural world.
Collaboration plays a pivotal role in creating shared visions and narratives in my portraits. Through intimate portraits and videos, my art paints a vivid picture of a future built on interconnectedness and mutual support. My images of the natural world are part of my spiritual and artistic practice. They capture both a single moment, and multiple moments across time and space, asking viewers to look closely and see deeply. My work stimulates connection and empathy in viewers, among the most important experiences for transformational thinking envisioning positive futures.
My Indigenous ancestral lands are in unceded, occupied Western Armenia and I live and work on the unceded Indigenous lands of others. The work I make seeks dialogue with other Indigenous communities around the world, who faced similar experiences of genocide, colonialism, displacement and degradation of ancestral lands.