Absence in Presence Painting

Born in Yerevan, Armenia, Shushanik Karapetyan is a New York based artist. Her work has been showcased at the National Association of Women Artists, Governors Island, BRIC, La Bodega Gallery, LIC Arts Open, Site: Brooklyn Gallery, and Art Mums United. Shushanik's paintings are informed by her work as a gestalt psychotherapist, placing significance on the present moment, being attuned to both internal processes and external influences as she works on a piece. While paintings begin with some form of structure (i.e. a seascape or a landscape), this structure is tentative and flexible and is often guided by moment-to-moment decisions, whether it’s the choice of brush, color, texture, or movement in the painting. There is often a repetitive piece to her work such as pointillist strokes with a filbert brush or sweeping long strokes with a flat brush. She is inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe, often communicating femininity, sensuality and organic motifs, as well as impressionist artists like Georges Seurat and Claude Monet, tapping into the ability of the human eye to blend points of colors on their own.