Handwritten letters, rocks pulled from a river, dried leaves: I combine physical memories with depictions of nature to tell stories of climate change, Armenian heritage, and, above all, caregiving. To tell these stories, I create narrative-based artworks using cyanotype, graphite drawing, laser-etching, or (usually) a combination of these mediums.

 

The symbols in the foreground of my artworks are sourced from family & public archives or hikes in the North Carolina woods. As a public health & social services professional, science and caregiving are inevitably at the core of my artwork. The act of creating is tied deeply to research: How can Armenian oral tradition help us tackle today’s (un)natural disasters? How can the geology of Haw River rocks teach us about balance and evolution?

 

While using familial Armenian handwriting or ancient rocks from my Haw River backyard may seem like an act of perpetual care to our ancestors, my goal is to create a meeting place in the present. I call on ancestral wisdom and science as a joint solution to modern environmental crises. I hope the ephemeral and often deeply personal symbols in these projects can be used to form a connection not just to nature but to each other.

 

“From heart to heart there is a path.” – Armenian Proverb