About the Artist

Inspired by the interplay of materials, narrative, and identity, artist Jo Nanajian’s creative journey is marked by a relentless exploration of form and meaning. Recently, her practice evolved from 2-dimensional painting to encompass wall-mounted sculpture. Originally from Beirut, Lebanon, she moved to the United States in 2008 and holds a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Her exhibition history spans venues in Boston, New York, and Tokyo. Nanajian’s work was showcased alongside prominent artists and curators, including Hank Willis Thomas’ collective and For Freedoms, who featured her work at Praise Shadows Gallery. These exhibitions underline her commitment to pushing boundaries, from the introspective depth of Narration Within the Materials in Tokyo to the provocative engagement of Let Love Quiet Fear in Boston. Nanajian was awarded residencies at the Boston Center for the Arts, Mass MoCa in North Adams, MA, and Fountainhead in Miami, providing the invaluable opportunities of immersion in new environments and collaborations with fellow artists, as well as the time and space to further refine her craft.

Earning recognition from a notable base, Nanajian’s work is featured in the private collection of Miami arts patron Jorge Pérez. Her work has also been spotlighted in publications such as Boston Art Review and Artscope Magazine, recognizing her exploration of identity and innovative approach to sculpture.

As Nanajian continues to emerge, develop, and hone her craft, the future promises an exciting trajectory.

Artist Statement

In my work, I’m obsessed with memory, how we preserve it, how it changes, and what is inevitably lost. I recreate abstract dried flowers because dried flowers themselves are a form of preservation. People keep bouquets from funerals or past lovers, holding onto remnants of moments that can never fully return. For me, these flowers commemorate my time away from Lebanon, a way to acknowledge the memories I couldn’t physically bring with me. But memory isn’t just about what remains, it’s also about what’s missing.

There were so many moments I missed, tragic and beautiful, that will always exist beyond my reach. That absence becomes a presence in my work. I create my own flowers, not as replicas, but as placeholders for the ones I never had the chance to keep.

Recently, I’ve been expanding this idea beyond flowers, looking at bones, icy landscapes, and cave droplets, each a different kind of preservation, but also a metaphor for imperfection and change. All of these materials speak to memory’s fragility. No form of preservation is perfect. Dried flowers hold the shape of what they were, but lack their original vitality. Bones retain a body’s structure, but not its warmth. Ice encases, but inevitably shifts and erodes. Even stone formations, which feel permanent, are the result of constant, unseen change.

Through my work, I question what it means to hold onto something that is always slipping away.
What does it mean to preserve absence itself? How do we reconcile memory with the inevitable
transformations of time?

If you are interested in visiting Jo Nanajian for a private studio visit during the residency please contact our exhibitions director Doug Breault at [email protected].