The content and thrust behind the most recent work by Arminée Chahbazian is based on observations of environmental shifts. Nature's self-described vulnerability, endurance, beauty, and drama are all present, yet it is the human response to nature's continuity and mystery that drives Arminée's work. Abstraction joins representation to suggest a somewhat surreal environment where questions outweigh answers. This work would not have taken its form if not for Arminée's choice to live and work immersed in a place rich in nature's materiality - manifest in the winds that stir the trees, or in the countless pine needles that cover the ground she treads, or in the clarity of both the water that streams past and the stars that encircle overhead. Hers is a quiet, introspective process.
Arminée Chahbazian has been a practicing visual artist for the past 38 years. Academic studies include:
Yale University - MFA 1984
Scripps College - BA 1982
Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture - 1981
Born in Colorado, she has been based in Northern California for over 26 years - this follows influential years spent living and working in France and in the eastern US.
Arminée's work has been included in numerous exhibitions along both coasts of the US, as well as in France and Holland; most recent shows have been focused in the Los Angeles area at the Brand Art Center and Lois Lambert Gallery, as well as the San Francisco Bay area in such venues as the Marin Art & Garden Center, the Napa Valley Museum and Sonoma Valley Museum. Her widely ranging work has been added regularly to many private collections.