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ABOUT ME – IN SHORT¶

_{Photo by Emma Harutyunyan}

Hi! I am Svetlana, a fine artist, based in Armenia. For the past decade I have devoted my practice primarily to re-discovering ancient and traditional techniques of natural dyeing. I love to discover new plants and have been extensively recording my findings and experiments. I like to think of myself as a color enthusiast!

WHO, WHEN, WHY, WHERE¶

Born in the picturesque, mountainous country of Armenia and raised in Cyprus, I went on to study at the University of the Arts London, Chelsea College of Art and Design. Upon completing my Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art, I moved back to Armenia and began to establish my roots.

I come from a family of engineers and mathematicians, in short - a family of makers and creators. Painter by trade, I am constantly making things with my hands, be it small or big. No matter the medium or tool that I use, I am always painting. Slow processes and attention to detail fuel my creative practice. I believe that aesthetics are important, that each item or piece that we create carries a certain energy to the viewer/user and thus I believe we should create with consciousness.

I feel most at ease and grounded when I find myself surrounded by mountains. I believe nature holds all that we need for a healthy and sustainable life. I have devoted a lot of my time in the past years to nurture the nature that nurtures us. I embark on this journey at Fabricademy and hope to make even the slightest difference in how we see, treat, use and give back to nature.

PAST PROJECTS, FUTURE HOPES¶

About ten years ago, with the birth of my niece, me and my sister started questioning where everything that we give her comes from. The food she eats, the clothes she wears, the toys she plays with. This quickly led us to start dyeing our own yarn and fabrics, and making her wardrobe.. A turning point for me. I was hooked, very quickly. Not just to natural dyeing, but to sustainability as a whole. Even the smallest research was eye-opening. You can find more of my past projects by clicking on this link!

_{Photo by svkh.art}

FABRICADEMY¶

There are moments in life, where you reach a point of content and balance. Everything feels like it's in the right place and you have an opportunity to dream. There are also moments in life, when you realise that you manifested something for a long time, without even knowing it.

I visited Fab Lab Dilijan on a trip to the countryside, on a random Saturday. As a maker, it felt like entering Narnia. I loved the idea of being in a space where everything is possible and the experimentation/ work process is as valued as the end result (if not more). Anoush kindly guided us through the lab, then at some point she started to show the biomaterials they were experimenting with and some modular designs which we fiddled with while chitchatting. Then she pulled out some naturally dyed yarn and it felt like I had found the missing piece. I had to apply! The idea of everything being open-source just thrilled me. I am a self taught natural dyer and graphic designer and I love sharing my knowledge. I often organise natural dye workshops in Armenia to encourage sustainability, by showing a small part of the magic of nature. However, I often encounter makers and artists who hold on to their discoveries, work processes and experiments, never to share it with anyone. In Armenia I encounter such moments often. Thus, learning new skills becomes a very lonely activity. Afterall, being open to sharing means that you are actually affecting the world. How sad it is that some of the best carpet weavers of Armenia haven’t shared their knowledge and their mastery has passed away along with them..

And here I am, being introduced to something called Fabricademy, a place where I can learn, share and be part of a community of thinkers and makers alike. The intensity of the program appealed to me. Each week challenging myself with a new skill, new flow of inspiration and ideation. When you are an artist, working in your studio by yourself, all day everyday, you create your own challenges. This can get tiresome and at times you lose the point of why you are doing what you do. Here, not only are the challenges new (and I have so much thirst for it at this point in my life), but also sustainability is at its core and that is something that resonates with me greatly. Tackling sustainability as a community of people has power and right now it should be a global priority.

To add the cherry on top- working on the assignments for Fabricademy, meant that I would need to use the Fab Lab in Dilijan, and spend at least half of the week there. Have you seen how beautiful Dilijan is?

NAROT ¶

Two years ago me and my dear friend Emma embarked on a journey of bringing art and fashion together, while focusing on sustainability and the magic of natural colors. And so we started creating what we like to call “wearable art”, our own Haute Couture collection of “Paregots”. In the summer of 2024, after many, many months of experiments, trials and errors (and successes as well) we launched “Narot" and exhibited 13 pieces in total. All naturally dyed, hand stitched and one of a kind! Our goal was to foster a deeper connection between art, nature and the material objects and the way we interact with them. Work on each garment began with the selection of dyes, then the selection of fabric..One could say that the Narot project was also a laboratory of colors.

*NAROT - [nɑˈɾɔt] - from Armenian meaning colour, paint, dye, tincture, hue

*PAREGOT - [pɑɾɛˈɡɔt] - from Armenian meaning a light outerwear, robe, tunic

_{Photo by Hellenagram}