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Illuminated Dragon, 2024
Stained glass, light
Depicting the “vishap” or dragon, bird, and sheep symbols commonly found in inscribed Armenian carpets, Illuminated Dragon examines the blurred relationship between woven history and the present. The piece is commissioned as part of a larger documentary investigating themes of cultural memory, erasure, and legacies of survival.
In November 2022, Tara was instrumental in Made In Syunik’s KORK Collection launch — an exclusive tote bag line with upcycled fragments of destroyed Armenian carpets. She designed custom stickers and cards highlighting the stories of the women in Goris who made them, and led our team through the campaign’s branding, photoshoots, marketing, sales/shipping. So far, we’ve raised over $3K in income for the seamstresses — women both displaced from #Artsakh and native to the threatened border city of #Goris.
Descendants of 1915 Part I: https://vimeo.com/211016052
Descendants of 1915 Part II: https://vimeo.com/211027303
On April 24, 1915, leaders of the Ottoman Turkish government set into motion a plan to systematically massacre and remove all Armenians living within the empire. Over the next several years, around 1.5 million Armenians were murdered or sent on death marches through the Syrian desert in what is known as the Armenian Genocide. The genocide is still denied today by many countries including Turkey and the United States. It is illegal in Turkey to publicly speak about the Armenian Genocide.
My senior thesis piece, Descendants of 1915, documents the faces and stories of local Armenians whose ancestors were genocide survivors. More than fifty Bay Area Armenians participated in the video and sculptural installation—some shared haunting descriptions of how their families escaped the genocide while others participated in face casting. Their casted masks and survival stories are testaments to the strength and resilience of their ancestors. The piece raised awareness for the 101st anniversary of the genocide and brought the local Armenian community closer together. Although the installation is no longer on exhibition, the film and face castings will continue to live on as archival evidence of a dark and denied period in history.
Outdoor interactive installation
fabric, wood
Stained Glass 2015 speaks to the fragile, yet standing boundaries of women in domestic spaces.
trash, wood, mattress
Interactive video installation
Trash collected over the course of a month. Bed frame built to fit and lean against trash. Video imagery of the degraded environment projected directly above so that when a person climbs on to the comfortable mattress, their shadow stands juxtaposed to the imagery.
Awaken, a collaborative video installation with Shirin Towfiq, is a meditation on nature, water, and humanity’s well-camouflaged slumber.
Plaster face castings
In honor of 100 year anniversary of Armenian Genocide survivors
plaster castings, wood, nails
Family, is a sculptural piece representing family dynamics and the gaze between a mother, father, brother, sister, daughter, son, husband, and wife. This piece includes face castings of my three family members. The sculptural process allowed me to intimately and emotionally relay my deepest feelings to my family during the time in which each of their faces were casted.
The sculpture post-casting elicits familial empathy by providing an opportunity for each of us to look at each other through another’s perspective.
Plaster, beads, string
Self portrait
Scenic Design Projects varying from the Berkeley Dance Project (assistant scenic designer) to Murder of Crows play.
