Jo Nanajian

Boston, Massachusetts

July 7- July 31, 2020

ARTIST STATEMENT

“Entering the atmosphere of my drawings, you are not a bystander but fully immersed in my environment. The projection of my fears begins within this space. The figures in these drawings, elongated and flimsy, give off feelings of extreme anguish. They are a lens to my own psyche— to my own agony and pain. The dark spaces of the mouth and eyes reflect an unknownable

scream. It has been my experience that we are taught that emotions such as anger and sadness are negative. We are disciplined to conceal these feelings in order to isolate and detach from them. But in actuality no emotions are positive or negative, they just exist. This series of drawings explores the shape of my emotions as they are distorted by attempts to erase them. I try to embody this natural primal scream that follows us, whether we like it or not, it remains present.”

BIO

Jo Nanajian is a lebanese artist currently in  Boston, Massachusetts, she pursued her artistic career at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) located in Baltimore, Maryland. She graduated from MICA in 2018 with a BFA in General Fine Arts and a concentration in Book Arts.  Shortly after obtaining her BFA she moved back to Boston  where she joined the board of Brain Arts Organization, a non-profit organization that creates platforms for artistic communities. Nanajian is a practicing studio artist who focuses on charcoal as a medium, all her pieces undergo a repetitive draw and erase process before reaching their final form which results in the faded ghost like theme in her work. She has exhibited her pieces in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Boston. 

ARTIST LINKS

Website: www.jonanajian.com

Instagram: @nanajivn