These two words meaning freedom and independence have been taught to me as a child. Sung in the Armenian national anthem, they are engraved in my DNA, yet I have difficulty connecting to them in the way I should. 

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As an intersectional being within the diaspora, I originally wanted to change my association to them by making it about personal liberation by using brighter colors and a bold font.

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The 2020 war in Nagorno-Garabakh altered my relation to these words once again. The rawness of past unrecognized genocide resurfaced as the animosity escalated between us and our Turkish and Azeri neighbours.

 

Now all I could hope for is the liberation of my people from this trauma and displacement. 

 

2020,

Acrylic, wood

6"x 36.

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