‘We all have our own missions in life. And the success is determined by our ability to identify that mission before it is too late’.
Luxury Splash of Art: We are very pleased that you have taken the time to answer our questions.
Lilit Nshani: Thanks for this great opportunity.
LSA: What were your first own attempts in art?
LN: I paint as long as I remember myself. From my early childhood, I remember replying to the question “what do you want to become?’’. The answer came out determinedly and naturally, “I want to be an artist”. Of course, every child draws and many of them are honest in their dreams to choose as a profession what they enjoy the most. Influenced by my grandmother, who was an art collector and a big lover of art, my dreams took shape as I got closer to my teenage years. This is where my serious involvement in arts began. I got enrolled in classes of academic painting, graphics, and batik art. However, the path was not that simple, as later life took me in another direction for over 15 years. In 2017, I met a great friend of mine, Karen Avetisyan, one of the most fabulous personalities and incredible artists I have ever seen. In her studio, I stood in front of the easel again to learn to obey the brushes from scratch, as everything I learned in art school got lost during those 15 years of artistic practice. Karen, who gave me classes, helped me overcome the inner barriers and refined my childhood dream.
LSA: You describe yourself that there was a turning point in your development as an artist. This is a very interesting point because there are certainly some artists who experience breaks or turns in their artistic career. What was the trigger for this and how did you deal with it?
LN: As I mentioned above, I got back to the easel and started creating and developing my artistic skills. Happy with some artworks and involved in the process of defining the spaces to grow and develop further, I just enjoyed the process of self-expression and the blessing of the artistic muse. I did not even think about publishing my artworks or building a career before my trip to Rome in early 2020. This is where I felt the inner whisper for the first time. That could sound too fictitious but something inside continuously whispered about me being in the wrong direction in life. I realized the shocking truth about wasting my life. Every corner of Rome pushed me to understand that my art should not be for myself only; I realized the need to take it out to the world and dedicate my life to art. So I started shooting my artworks and published my online portfolio and started to explore the field in parallel to my other affairs. However, this was not the end of the story about the turns and the pushes. In late November 2020, I visited one of the ancient Armenian cathedrals Dadivank. Drowned in the magical atmosphere of the cathedral, where the tragedy intertwines with the blessing, I felt that inner impulse again. This time it was not a mild whisper at all, it was a very straightforward claim, almost an aggressive urge. I realized art is a mission of my life. It was like a cold shower – shocking, scary, and enlivening at the same time.
LSA: Thank you, that is very inspiring. In your work you focus and are inspired by nature. Where else you find inspiration?
LN: I see nature as the source of everything. The landscapes and seascapes inspire me a lot. However, I love seeing human beings as part of nature, expressing nature in the context of symbolism, which is what it eventually ends up becoming. Exploring the inner nature of human beings, diving into behavioral and habitual aspects, and tracing parallels with the natural environments is what excites me the most. That’s why the descriptions of the landscapes usually have nothing to do with the landscape itself. It is often about the inner prism and visual thoughts about nature, its role in our lives, human behavior, and universal processes interknit together.
LSA: What is your favorite medium you use?
LN: Currently, I mainly use acrylic paints. For sketching, I usually take watercolours and pens, rarely coat pencils.
LSA: What is the artistic process, what is the biggest challenge?
LN: It usually starts structurally and develops in a really dull manner until the moment I get sparkled and hit by what they call the muse. Overcoming the dull is the hardest, from my point of view. Another challenging part is feeling the right moment to stop.
LSA: That is so true; there is always something that can be added but it is so important to stop the right moment. Can you please tell the reader if you have an actual art project in progress? Or a dream project you would love to be involved in?
LN: At the moment, all I have is a batch of sketches and almost no time. So I just create. I have just started a non-exclusive collaboration with a U.S.-based online gallery. Several artworks are represented by another UK online gallery. And it is very exciting. I believe the best opportunities and projects are yet to come.
LSA: Do you think that a man is born an artist or becomes an artist? Or maybe we are all creators and each of us creates something in life. What is your view?
LN: Sure you can and should stretch to learn almost everything, and creating artworks is not an exception, but the inborn sparkles are what make the real difference. We all have our own missions in life. And the success is determined by our ability to identify that mission before it is too late. Unfortunately, I can witness many people spending almost half of their lives walking around blind or looking in another direction. I used to be one of them too until I was lucky to get the thunder from the Universe.
LSA: What would you like to tell other people through your art?
LN: I would rather listen to what other people say when they see my artworks. I love exploring how my artworks resonate with other people. Understanding the artwork is always a personal experience as well as creating the artwork. Both are sacred.
LSA: How do you deal with the current situation, does Corona have an influence on your work? Is creation helping you in any way to go through that rough time?
LN: Art has the ability to cure almost everything, as well as predict the outcomes. However, I try to get to creation after the storm of hard times, not in between as I want my artworks to spread only the positive emotions and serve to the light. As for the pandemic, it doesn’t affect my creation processes much. However, several exhibitions I planned to take part in were cancelled or postponed due to Corona risks. So probably it slowed down some processes as probably everything in the world.
LSA: Can you please let the reader know where they can find your work.
LN: I am open to collaboration and opportunities. My full portfolio is available at www.nshani.com . All artworks are available for sale with worldwide shipping
LSoA: Thank you very much for your time and all the best.
Nshani: Thanks for this great interview. I hope my story will inspire the readers and help them understand my artworks deeper.
Interview by Agnieszka Kowalczewska
