Statement

Through contemporary art, I explore cultural continuity and belonging. This practice carries my ancestors’ journeys forward, transforming inherited displacement into representations of identity. As a third-generation descendant of immigrants, my work is rooted in the relationship between past and present, home and homeland. I aim to create connections among the diaspora while speaking more broadly to experiences of struggle, survival, and, ultimately, freedom. My numerous conceptual works continue to evolve alongside my understanding of history and my place in the art world. My foundation began largely in part with the love and encouragement of my family.

During the atrocities of 1915, all of my great-grandparents fled Yozgat, Gürün, and Harput for the United States. I honor their origins and survival by incorporating Armenian earth pigments into many of my paintings. Through this material experimentation, the landscapes my ancestors were forced to leave behind become part of a creative lineage that continues across generations. My grandfather, Ara DerMarderosian, was also an artist; he was an avid painter, scrimshander, jeweler, and musician who eagerly introduced me to folk instruments, oil painting, and a wide range of eclectic maker tools. He possessed a remarkable wealth of knowledge, and few things made him happier than sharing that intellect with me. My mother, Laura Torcomian (DerMarderosian), nurtured my relationship with music in every capacity. Because of her influence, I often describe music as the foundation of my artistic practice. I have played drums/percussion and performed with multiple groups for nearly a decade. Music continues to shape the cycle of my visual practice and the language I use to write about my works. Music is almost always playing while I develop an idea or make a painting; my creative process seldom unfolds in silence. Outside of the home, my education also provided an essential foundation. At the Armenian Sisters Academy (ASA) in Radnor, Pennsylvania, we studied under the likes of Francesca Torcomian, Armen Yepoyan, and Monique Sarkessian, three prominent artists within the community. There, I encountered new ways of expression and learned the history of contemporary artists of times past, while gaining exposure to traditional folk song and dance. This early immersion offered a cultural and artistic vocabulary that I continue to carry through my works today.

The opportunity to create freely, explore my identity, and collaborate with other artists is both a privilege and a responsibility. Collaboration is present throughout much of my practice, allowing shared histories to enter into conversation. I recognize my position as a visual artist as an opportunity to sustain ethnic cultural expression and raise awareness of genocide, not only as it relates to my family and community, but also as a recurring reality throughout history. I have been fortunate to exhibit my work with a wide range of Armenian institutions and organizations, and giving back to my community remains central to my practice. I hope to honor those who came before me, strengthen connections in the present, and contribute to a cultural legacy that will endure.

Adam Torcomian, 2026

New York, NY