Thank you for visiting my site. Please, come visit me at the Park Trades Center in Kalamazoo, studio 402.
I will be adding pictures of new work within the next two weeks, so check back soon!
email: akarabin87@gmail.com
Artist Statement
When constructing my work, I utilize traditional techniques (i.e. drawing or painting) in combination with digital techniques to incorporate photographs into my work. I feel it necessary to depict both a remnant of truth and history in my work, which is why I consider the photographic components the scaffolding of my art, supporting and harmonizing with the embellishments and distortions I have digitally or physically incorporated. The subject matter integrated into my prints is inspired from the personal history of my family; a number of pieces I have assembled include remnants of photographs and themes stemming from familial accounts concerning the genocide of the Armenian people at the dawn of the twentieth century, a moment in history marred by the senseless political extermination of countless innocent lives. Many of the photographs I have integrated into my work have been obscured and/or distorted—the individuals and details in these pictures lose all unique characteristics and identity; the universal theme of genocide is to ignore or remove the personal identity of individuals and exterminate them based on a single attribute. The photographic elements emphasize the idea of the lost or forgotten being—the individual that was once there, but is now gone—the ghost. Although my subject matter stems from quite personal origins, it is not my objective to simply portray or narrate my family’s own personal background, or dictate a political or historical statement about a specific group of people. I want my work to communicate universally, relating to others regardless of their personal histories, whether it is through familial accounts, or personal feelings of lost identity.
The landscapes in my current work extend on this theme through the representation of the cyclical nature of genocide and war. I am interested in how historically these themes are repeated through time and across cultures. Each landscape in this body of work is a fragment of a photograph documenting atrocity in war. I crop the original photograph, removing all bodies and all identifiable objects. The images are obscured, distorted and focused solely on the landscape, which is then enlarged, and moved through several media; the images originate pixilated from the internet, are printed, and then fused together, scanned, and then re-printed on Kitakata paper. The final result is a continual cyclical landscape with no beginning, or end. Artist books, video, and wall installations are included in this body of work.
I will be adding pictures of new work within the next two weeks, so check back soon!
email: akarabin87@gmail.com
Artist Statement
When constructing my work, I utilize traditional techniques (i.e. drawing or painting) in combination with digital techniques to incorporate photographs into my work. I feel it necessary to depict both a remnant of truth and history in my work, which is why I consider the photographic components the scaffolding of my art, supporting and harmonizing with the embellishments and distortions I have digitally or physically incorporated. The subject matter integrated into my prints is inspired from the personal history of my family; a number of pieces I have assembled include remnants of photographs and themes stemming from familial accounts concerning the genocide of the Armenian people at the dawn of the twentieth century, a moment in history marred by the senseless political extermination of countless innocent lives. Many of the photographs I have integrated into my work have been obscured and/or distorted—the individuals and details in these pictures lose all unique characteristics and identity; the universal theme of genocide is to ignore or remove the personal identity of individuals and exterminate them based on a single attribute. The photographic elements emphasize the idea of the lost or forgotten being—the individual that was once there, but is now gone—the ghost. Although my subject matter stems from quite personal origins, it is not my objective to simply portray or narrate my family’s own personal background, or dictate a political or historical statement about a specific group of people. I want my work to communicate universally, relating to others regardless of their personal histories, whether it is through familial accounts, or personal feelings of lost identity.
The landscapes in my current work extend on this theme through the representation of the cyclical nature of genocide and war. I am interested in how historically these themes are repeated through time and across cultures. Each landscape in this body of work is a fragment of a photograph documenting atrocity in war. I crop the original photograph, removing all bodies and all identifiable objects. The images are obscured, distorted and focused solely on the landscape, which is then enlarged, and moved through several media; the images originate pixilated from the internet, are printed, and then fused together, scanned, and then re-printed on Kitakata paper. The final result is a continual cyclical landscape with no beginning, or end. Artist books, video, and wall installations are included in this body of work.
