I took a particular interest in portraits of Armenian women that had been imprisoned and tattooed on their faces during the genocide. My grandmother told me stories about these women, who were her mother’s friends. These women had been kidnapped at young ages and, years later, rescued and released to their families. Photographs were taken of the girls, documenting their rescue and also documenting the marks that had been forced upon their faces. The photographs are very powerful. They serve as historical documentation as well as striking emotional devices, captivating the viewer, who must contemplate their hardships and accounts.

The portraits in the series of Armenian women were made through photolithographic processes and screen-printed watercolor monotype processes using a photographic stencil. These two techniques offer the ability to incorporate a photographic element to the portraits, as well as a feeling that the hand was involved in creating the piece. The processes also allow the ability to create slight color variations between each portrait. I am interested in how the color variations change the emotion and feeling and also, how details are hidden or revealed depending on the variation. When all of the different variations are displayed together, different details are revealed between each piece. I altered the original photograph by focusing solely on the subject’s face, while distorting and obstructing the image through digital and physical manipulation. Following this, I made four-color separations of the print matrix and then printed these, manually changing the color slightly on each matrix.
This series is intended to be a collaboration of many prints, each attempting to speak or tell a story. I consider these ‘portraits’ to be part of my collection of work inspired by my grandmother’s history and the Armenian genocide—a profound moment in history that embodies tragedy as well as controversy. But, even though my inspiration stems from this theme, I am not concerned if the viewer makes a connection specifically to the Armenian culture and genocide. My interest in these photographs is the aspect of mystery and lost identity. Even though I am stimulated by my ancestor’s history, I want the viewer to wonder who these women are, and make a purely personal connection with these pieces.