Carla Koulajian
My paintings reflect my life experiences. I grew up in Beirut, Lebanon. In my youth it was a colorful city where beauty was the standard and diversity was the norm, where the living was easy and the fragrances were bountiful. I saw the beauty fade, the colors darken, and the fragrances turn to nauseous odors and heard stories that were unspeakable: in the midst of its civil war Beirut was burning.
I moved to the United States, studied art and urban design, and my life was changed. I was uprooted but the uprooting gave me the strength to let go of the past and start again. I have grown accustomed to the unpredictability of life and the possibility of change. There is always a duality in my work: unpredictability and stability, culture and nature, organic and geometric, and chance and risk. I see the painting process as a form of architecture in which I work from the frame to the center and back; the process is unpredictable and I allow myself to go where the painting takes me.
Color is very important as color defines the moment in time; yellow is primary as I feel all of us are under one sun, and Prussian blue is omnipresent because it is layered and deep and can hold many stories. There is sometimes a battle between colors and I wait until one takes over.
I work with my heart & soul and strive to have a positive energy contained within each painting.