Arleb by Nabad interviews interior architect and visual artist Laurie Mikaélian. Mikaélian’s distinctive personal style expresses the influence of her armenian culture. 

Arleb by Nabad – What is your background? 

Laurie Mikaélian – I am a graduate of the Lebanese university of fine arts in Interior Architecture (bachelor degree), and of the Accademia di belli Arti di Roma in Set Design (master’s degree).

Arleb by Nabad – What is the experience that has influenced your work the most? 

Laurie Mikaélian – A lot of things influence me, but to be specific about this collection, living abroad and making new friends made me realize how much effort we put to show off our culture to them. It made me realize how much I am connected to my culture and had pride in it.  So I came up with the idea of adding a few touches of my culture to famous artworks, and the result came out amazing; it gave a new beauty to the artworks and felt really close to the heart.

Arleb by Nabad – Which subjects or themes are you working on? 

Laurie Mikaélian – I am still working on the same cultural concepts, but I developed a new way to share my creations with people by turning tote bags into tailor made artworks, hand embroidered, always respecting the idea of the culture, but this time I made it a bit modern. The concept was instead of framing art, why not carry it with you.

Arleb by Nabad – What is your creative process like? 

Laurie Mikaélian – I think everyone’s creative process is their own. What works for one person is not going to always work for every person. My pieces express my life experiences, my interactions, passions, interests, reflection, all manifested in my artworks and changing over time. Most of the time I would pick up an idea, do some extra research on the topic, and no matter what medium I’m using, it begins with the sketch. I am very passionate about details in artworks, I think that’s what makes artworks beautiful knowing the effort put to give something so detailed and perfect. I usually work with acrylics and pens. To me, the most exciting parts of executing a painting are the beginning and the end.

Arleb by Nabad – What was the impact of the Beirut port explosions (August 4, 2020) on your work as an artist/creative enterprise?

Laurie Mikaélian – I was fortunate enough to be far from the incident, but the impact of the explosion really crushed us. Without any second thoughts my family and I reached out to help in any ways we can. In fact, I spent almost a few weeks volunteering here and there. During the volunteering days, seeing how Lebanese people reach out to each other made me more close to this country and loving its culture. Of course it brought me sadness seeing our favorite spot where we all made memories throughout the years smashed in a few seconds, the art galleries, the cafés where we used to sit and draw… While having these weird feelings, I got inspired and created a visual art that was titled  “the unfinished memories” because in life everything can come and go but the memories stay forever; memories help you to remember and feel, and that part of Beirut had so many good memories and some of them weren’t allowed to be finished properly the way we wanted it.

Arleb by Nabad – What are, according to you, the roles of arts and culture in social, economic, environmental or political change? 

Laurie Mikaélian – For me art is defined as freedom, that’s how I am able to express my inner thoughts, it’s about making people “feel free”. Artists have often played a key role in social movements. Through their expressive talents, artists can challenge cultural narratives, shift imagery and inspire emotions in a way that traditional political methods alone rarely do.

Arleb by Nabad – What are, according to you, the main challenges/obstacles facing artists/creative enterprises in Lebanon nowadays? 

Laurie Mikaélian – Speaking from personal experience, I think that following the revolution, the economic crisis, the port explosion,… all these tragic events made artists come forward. I know I was discovered when I posted my first art illustration about the revolution and it was shared by the account named “thawra artists”; it gave me courage to create more works. So I can say that we are having nowadays trouble doing exhibitions or making a profit out of our art, but there is more attention and importance on new artists than in the past. These historical moments have helped shed light on new voices.

CHECK OUT LAURIE MIKAELIAN PROFILE AND ARTWORKS FOR SALE ON ARLEB.