Inside the Studio: Lilit Marukyan
- Art Dealer Street
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
For Lilit Marukyan, color is not simply a visual choice. It is a feeling, a memory, and a language of the inner world.
Based in Yerevan, Armenia, Marukyan creates abstract paintings that begin not with a fixed image, but with emotion. A mood, a memory, an encounter, a moment of silence, or the atmosphere of a day may become the starting point for a work. From there, color begins to move across the canvas, forming a space where personal feeling becomes shared experience.
Her artistic journey has been shaped by intuition, discipline, and a deep trust in the emotional power of abstraction. Early in her path, Honored Artist of Armenia Professor Edward Vardanyan recognized her sensitivity to color as a special gift. His words stayed with her, encouraging her to follow abstraction as her primary language of expression.
Marukyan’s paintings have been exhibited internationally, including in Paris and New York, with upcoming presentations in Milan, Barcelona, and Yerevan. Her work has also been recognized through several international awards, including the International Prize “Artist of the Year 2025,” the International Prize “The New Great Masters in New York,” and an Honorable Mention in the Teravarna International Juried Abstract Art Competition.
In this week’s Inside the Studio, Lilit Marukyan reflects on color, emotion, Armenian memory, abstraction, international visibility, and the quiet search that continues to guide her work.
Read on to learn more in an exclusive interview with Lilit Marukyan:
Your artistic journey is deeply connected to color and emotion. How do you begin translating the feeling of a day or moment into an abstract painting?
For me, the process always begins with a feeling, rather than with a predetermined image or idea.
I try to listen to my inner state, to what I feel in a particular moment. It can be the mood of the day, a memory, an impression of a person or nature, or simply an inner movement that is difficult to explain in words.
To me, the foundation of a work is not the image, but the inner experience that gradually transforms into color.
Color lives as a feeling. Sometimes it can express what words are unable to say. It can preserve a memory, convey an emotion, create silence, or reveal an inner movement.
Then this feeling gradually begins to find its place on the canvas. I choose colors intuitively, allowing them to interact with one another. I do not seek to literally depict a specific moment. It is more important for me to convey its emotional feeling.
In this way, the work gradually emerges through color, movement, and space.
Professor Edward Vardanyan recognized your ability to feel and translate color as a special gift early in your path. How did his words influence your confidence and direction as an artist?
Meeting Professor Edward Vardanyan became an important point in my artistic journey.
Early in my studies, he recognized in me a special sensitivity to color and called it an artistic gift. At that time, I may not have fully understood the meaning of his words, but over time, they became very important to me.
His words taught me to trust my intuition more and to trust what I feel through color. I understood that an artist does not always have to look for answers only in rules, technique, or existing forms. Sometimes, the most valuable thing is to learn to listen to your inner feeling and allow it to find its own language.
This greatly influenced the direction of my artistic development.
And perhaps most importantly, the professor’s words have stayed with me to this day. They remind me to trust my own feeling and to continue searching for my own artistic path.
You describe abstraction as your primary language of expression. What does abstraction allow you to communicate that a more realistic image cannot?
For me, abstraction is a space of freedom where each person can find their own feeling.
It does not provide a ready-made answer or tell the viewer exactly what they should see or feel.
In abstraction, we can encounter something that already lives within us — a feeling we have forgotten, a feeling we are waiting for, or one for which we have not yet found the words. That is why, for me, art exists not only to be seen, but above all to be felt.
At the heart of my work is always the person and their inner world. We may be separated by place, culture, and life experience, but our feelings connect us in many ways.
That is why I see art as a shared space where the viewer can discover not only the artist, but also themselves.
Your paintings invite viewers to discover vibrant colors and emotions within their own lives. What kind of emotional experience do you hope your audience has when standing in front of your work?
It is very important to me that the viewer does not feel the need to immediately “understand” my painting.
I want to leave space for their own perception and allow the work to evoke their personal emotions. I like to think that the same painting can create completely different feelings in different people — for one, it may be joy and energy; for another, a memory or a sense of calm.
That is why I do not want to determine in advance what the viewer should feel.
If my work makes a person stop, feel something within themselves, and, for a moment, see the world a little differently, for me, that is already a true connection through art.
You are based in Yerevan, Armenia, while your work has been exhibited internationally in Paris, New York, and soon Milan and other cities. How does your Armenian background influence the way you approach color, memory, and emotion?
For me, Yerevan is not simply the city where I live. It is part of my inner memory and a source of many feelings, memories, and impressions.
I experience the city through its light, architecture, and, of course, color. Yerevan is often called the “Pink City” because of its buildings made from local pink tuff. This distinctive color is present in my memory and in my perception of the city and may naturally influence my relationship with color in painting.
But for me, the influence of my Armenian background is not limited to a particular palette. It is more about an emotional connection to place, to the past, and the world around me.
Even when I do not consciously try to speak about Armenia, a part of it still remains in my work. Wherever my paintings may be — in Paris, New York, or elsewhere — a part of Yerevan always remains in them.
Your work has been shown at Clio Art Fair in New York, alongside independent artists from around the world. What was that experience like for you, and how did it feel to present your abstract paintings to an international audience?
Participation in Clio Art Fair in New York was a very important experience for me.
It was especially meaningful to present my work alongside independent artists from different countries and to feel part of the international art scene.
It was important for me to see my paintings not only within a familiar cultural environment, but also through the eyes of people with different experiences and perspectives. I observed the viewers’ reactions and felt that each person could enter my work in their own way.
This experience gave me more confidence in my own artistic language and became an important step in understanding myself as an artist working within an international context.
You have received several recognitions, including the International Prize “Artist of the Year 2025,” the International Prize “The New Great Masters in New York,” and an Honorable Mention in the Teravarna International Juried Abstract Art Competition. How do these awards shape your motivation and next steps as an artist?
For me, every award is, first of all, a confirmation that I am moving in the direction that feels right.
It gives me confidence in my art and the desire to continue developing, searching, and growing.
But I do not see awards as the ultimate goal. On the contrary, they motivate me to move forward and to develop my artistic language more deeply.
It is important for me to preserve that inner feeling from which each work begins and to gradually move closer to the level of art that I see and feel within myself.
Looking ahead, with exhibitions planned in New York, Milan, Barcelona, and Yerevan, what new directions or emotions are you most excited to explore in your future works?
At the moment, I am especially drawn to a sense of inner calm and the freedom of feelings that are still searching for their color.
I want to stay open to what each of these new places — New York, Milan, Barcelona, Yerevan — might quietly add to that search.
I feel genuinely excited for this next chapter, and I look forward to sharing it with new audiences in each of these cities.
Lilit Marukyan’s work reminds us that abstraction can be both deeply personal and quietly universal.
Her paintings do not ask to be decoded quickly. They ask to be felt. Through color, movement, silence, and space, Marukyan creates works that open slowly, allowing each viewer to bring their own memories, emotions, and inner world into the encounter.
What makes her practice compelling is the trust she places in feeling. Rather than beginning with a fixed image, she begins with an inner movement — something fragile, intuitive, and often difficult to name. From there, color becomes a bridge between the private and the shared.
Yerevan remains present in her work, not as a literal subject, but as emotional memory: light, architecture, warmth, atmosphere, and the quiet presence of place. As her paintings move across international contexts, from New York to Paris, Milan, Barcelona, and beyond, they carry with them this sense of origin while remaining open to new readings.
For Marukyan, painting is a process of listening — to color, to memory, to emotion, and to the silence between them. Her work invites us to do the same: to pause, to look longer, and to allow feeling to become a language of its own.
You can learn more about Lilit Marukyan and her work via these links: Saatchi Art: Lilit Marukyan Instagram: @lilit.marukyan
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