Artist Bio

Born in Yerevan, Armenia, Shushanik Karapetyan is a New York based artist and psychotherapist. Shushanik’s art making is informed by her work as a gestalt psychotherapist, placing significance on the present moment, being attuned to both internal bodily experiences and external influences as she works on a piece. While paintings can begin with some form of structure, such as a landscape or the body, this structure is tentative and flexible, guided by moment-to-moment decisions, whether it’s the choice of color, brush, or movement in the painting. 

Shushanik’s work has been showcased at the National Association of Women Artists, Governors Island, BRIC, La Bodega Gallery, LIC Arts Open, Site: Brooklyn Gallery, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, and Atamian Hovsepian Curatorial Practice. Her debut solo show of hard-edge sunsets was exhibited at Vital Arts Studios Gallery, New York (2024).  

Artist Statement 

“Land Sea Sky” is a collection of paintings with organic motifs. These paintings grew out of the simple exercise of exploring the different marks a brush can make. Following my curiosity, I noticed that at some point, I was using the filbert brush and making repetitive similar strokes that looked like a school of fish or petals. This experience ultimately evolved into the paintings in this collection, some of which are more structured than others, all of them using some iteration of a repetitive brush stroke that feels meditative in the moment. The choice of colors is sometimes premeditated but more often is made in the moment as I work on a painting. As I paint in this style, I often feel calm and immersed in a flow of colors.Through these works, I invite viewers to find their own sense of calm and connection to nature’s patterns. The interplay of shapes and colors is meant to evoke a meditative experience, encouraging personal reflection.