Armenian Artists' Network Featured Artist:

Kristina Nazarevskaia

Exclusive interview with Sarine Balian, Founder AAN:

AAN: Your unique perception of life is credited as a universal quality among your client base, which is actually a very unique perception in itself. Tell us what is your perception of life and how is it relatable to such a diverse clientele?

KN: I think my perception is a dynamic concept. It’s a continuously evolving and developing notion aided largely by my daily encounters with people and ideas. I tend to focus on the larger, more abstract questions that lead me to explore the world around me. Having come from a culture substantially different from the one I reside in now at a very particular age (16) when not all behavioral or social concepts associated with one specific culture are ingrained into the personal identity give me a great advantage of being able to compare various social, behavioral and cultural patterns which, in return creates a clearer understanding of the dynamic of each society and how it’s created both organically and by design. I tend to see the world around me from a vantage point of an observer analyzing cause and effect. What I have come to realize through years of work and connecting with my clients and customers is that the one common thread is the quest for better understanding of all that comprises our environment – psychological, emotional and physical elements that define our actions and reactions.

AAN: There is often talk and expectation, it seems, for artists who are Armenian to reflect our culture, or ethnicity in our work. An audience will compare or seek out characteristics that are traditionally Armenian. As an artist what has been your experience on this issue, and what are your feelings about it?

KN: The question I would pose in return is: What is the expected reflection of our culture? Is it a figurative reference to earlier artists? Is it a color scheme most commonly associated with the country and its landscape? Is it a depiction of historical figures and events? I think the answer is not a simple one. We are all imprinted with our history. Our memories and impressions define what and how we choose to communicate. Several years after I began exhibiting my work several people linked gestural qualities of my work to Arshille Gorky – before knowing that I was Armenian. So relying on this example, I would have to say that yes, our work reflects our culture and ethnicity. But I would have to be very careful in making such a statement because my memories of Armenia have become undefined. I was born in Armenia and lived there until the age of 5, at which point my mother and I moved to Moscow, where I lived on and off until I turned 16. I have also spent three years in Ethiopia, so is my work a partial reflection on the cultural traditions of Africa as well? The answer would, once again, have to be yes.

I have strong emotional connections to Armenia and Armenians. I can’t tell you how many times I would randomly approach people on the streets of New York at the first recognition of an Armenian word. My heart would jump and I would head straight for the sound of the language I miss so much. Unquestionably, there must be something uniquely Armenian that each Armenian artist unconsciously communicates through his/her work. But I doubt it’s quantitative.

AAN: In exhibiting your work what experience do you hope the viewers walk away with?

KN: I always say that the work of art should start a conversation with the viewer. It should awake within them a desire to explore it, as well as themselves deeper. It should inspire the viewer to make the effort to ask questions previously not considered. There are people who write to me weeks, months and years after they see a painting of mine for the first time and what they tell me is most rewarding: they are still thinking about that one piece! They HAVE to see it and so they go to my site every day to visit it. I have gotten concerned and sometimes quite sharp emails demanding to know why a certain painting has been removed from the website. You see, they’ve associated themselves with that work and now that it was gone they felt like something was taken away from them. But to answer the question in a simple sentence: I want to initiate an evolving dialogue.

AAN: About the creative process and the pace at which your paintings develop you say “They are allowed to mature, sometimes waiting for me to catch-up…” Could you speak more on that?

KN: Abstract art is very different forms of expression then say portraiture or still life or landscapes. As Rothko and Albers wrote in their letter, abstract art is a means to communicate an emotional state. We communicate something quite intangible and not easily defined. The concepts being put on canvas are as limitless and individual as their interpretation, so formulating a facet of an idea takes not just time but experience. The example I can make here is reading Dostoyevsky in 5th grade and being asked to fully comprehend the implied meaning of the work. There has to be some life experience to draw from in order to coherently approach and understand the work – without that it’s a collection of words. Same is true for art – as an artist who wishes to communicate with the viewer I must have a history of experiences, people, emotions, LOVE, textures, smells and flavors to recall in my work. There are many examples where I would start work on the painting and mid way through realize that I’ve come to the blank point where the roads ahead of me, the emotional landscape has not been written yet. I have learned to step aside and wait. The answer would usually come from a book I’d be reading or from a chance encounter with someone, or from a conversation with a friend or a client. There are particular people in my life who have been my beacons and to whom I come when I need to learn to see something anew. I have been watching HOUSE lately and that moment when Dr. House suddenly realizes the correct diagnosis from something someone says in an unrelated conversation or something random he sees and his mind would immediately draw a connection and solve the riddle – that’s how my mind works. But a simple act of realizing that THIS is the solution takes time, experience and implies acquired emotional maturity and development.

November 22, 2009