Interview: Nana Aramyan | Armenia

In its ninth year, the BSEC Month of Culture feature “Black Sea Women in the Arts” focuses on contemporary women artists from across the BSEC region who are making a lasting impact on the cultural and creative sectors.

The ICBSS has conducted a series of online interviews with women artists from the Black Sea, who shared insights into their work through their contributions.

Let’s inaugurate this new chapter with the interview of Nana Aramyan, a Visual Artist from Armenia, whose creations bridge symbolism with contemporary fantasy.

 

Nana Aramyan – Visual Artist

Please introduce yourself to our audience. Share with us some key information about yourself and your career, such as your educational background, participation in events like festivals or exhibitions, and any awards you have received. 

My name is Nana Aramyan and I am a multidisciplinary Armenian artist whose work blends surrealism, mystical realism and symbolic intimacy.

My artistic journey began in the 1990s, when I was the youngest participant in Pacific, the final exhibition of the avant-garde group 3rd Floor. I later joined Act, a conceptual collective central to Armenia’s post-Soviet artistic scene.

Rooted in dreamlike narratives and archetypal imagery, my art explores memory, transformation, and the unconscious—often through female figures, natural forces, and metaphysical spaces. My palette shifts from violet twilight to digital luminescence, constructing alternate realms of desire, loss, and myth. Drawing from both classical training and digital practice, I create a hybrid visual language that bridges Symbolism with contemporary fantasy.

My work has been shown internationally since the 1990s, with solo exhibitions such as Nocturnal Veil (2024), Black Violet Talks (2011), and Parallel Interfaces (2004, ACCEA Yerevan), alongside group shows including the 49th Venice Biennale, Arte No Caste-Palazzo Ducale, Atri, Italy, Spazi Aperti (Galleria Mentana, Florence), and The Guises of the Nude at the National Gallery of Armenia.

I co-curated Ignored Reality (2016), an exhibition on Armenian Surrealism, and my research continues to explore Surrealism, Magic Realism, and 20th-century nonconformist art.

I hold a Master’s in Painting from the Yerevan Fine Arts Academy and an MPhil in Art History from the University of Udine. I currently teach at the Yerevan State Academy of Fine Arts and run Aramyan Studio, where I combine creative practice with art education. 

Tell us about the art form(s) you work on. Share with us some interesting information about the creative process.

I work across painting, digital art, and illustration, blending surrealism, mystical realism, and symbolic imagery. My creative process often begins with dreams or fleeting emotions that I translate into visual metaphors. I combine classical oil techniques with digital layering to create textures that reflect both memory and imagination. Each piece evolves intuitively through the use of symbols, archetypes and colour harmonies that reveal hidden emotional landscapes.

 If you had to present us just one of your artworks, which one would you select? Share with us the details and the message you want to communicate through this artwork. 

I would present “Nocturnal Veil”, a large-scale surreal composition reflecting a decade of my life through the phases of the moon, from a newborn crescent to a waning shadow. The piece features figures emerging and dissolving within the light of the moon, symbolising transformation, memory and the cycles of creation and loss. The work explores themes of feminine strength, the continuity of time, and the beauty hidden in darkness, offering a reminder that our inner worlds are illuminated even in silence.

Here is the artwork:

Photograph 2: Nocturnal Veil – Nana Aramyan

Women artists still face many barriers and disparities. What inspires you to continue being creative and staying focused on doing what you love? 

My inner necessity to create is what keeps me going: for me, art is both survival and revelation. I believe that, through creativity, women can reclaim their voices and rewrite their own mythologies. I am often inspired by other female artists who challenged conventions before me, as well as by the quiet strength of everyday life. Art enables me to transform vulnerability into power and translate personal experience into a universal language.

Art can be a catalyst for intercultural dialogue, gender equality and social inclusion. What is your vision for the role of your work in addressing these issues?

I see my art as a bridge between visible and invisible worlds—between cultures, histories, and emotional truths. Through surreal and symbolic imagery, I aim to dissolve boundaries between gender, identity, and origin, inviting viewers into a shared space of reflection and empathy. By celebrating the feminine and the mystical, I hope to inspire understanding and unity through beauty, imagination, and spiritual depth.

Is there anything else that you would like to discuss?

You can find my artworks here: https://www.behance.net/nana

 

Sources & photographs:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NanaAramyan
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nanaaramyan.surrealart/

Photograph No 1: The Artist: Nana Aramyan

Photograph No 2: Art and Artist / Nocturnal Veil

Photograph No 3: Seaborn Serenade

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Special thanks go to Ms. Nana Aramyan for generously sharing her valuable insights with the ICBSS.

The ICBSS also extends its sincere appreciation to the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to BSEC and Acting Chairperson of the ICBSS Board of Directors, Mr. Nairi Petrossian, for facilitating this meaningful connection.

 

DISCLAIMER

This post was prepared by the International Centre for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS). It reflects the views of the interviewees only, and does not necessarily represent the views of ICBSS or its affiliated institutions. The ICBSS cannot be held responsible for any use of the information contained herein.

 

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