THRIVE is an AIWA project dedicated to highlighting individuals who are doing remarkable things in their personal and professional lives to better themselves and those around them. These individuals are inspiring, dynamic, innovative and interesting. Today, we feature Stephany Sanossian, Artist.

I believe some of my work is very multidimensional, and it’s open to people’s interpretation. I want my work to be a constant reminder of the beautiful treasures we’ve had in our hometown. War did erase some of them, but it didn’t erase such treasures from people’s minds. I left Aleppo around 2011, and ever since the war started I realized that Syria became directly associated with grimness. For as long as I can, I want to de-associate such resemblance. I hope that my work would be a constant reminder of what Syria stands for – the cradle of civilizations, the land of heritage and history, the hospitality of its people, and their goodwill. I don’t like to limit my work to focused messages. I believe the way people engage with works of art is very different and relative. It interests me to see how different people interpret my works differently. It’s amusing and a constant learning journey. You know the silver lining? I’d like my work to contribute to that.

Her work is a constant reminder to myself and those around her, that our culture is rich and our country is beautiful. She would love to make people see a different angle or my vision on the topics that we encounter in our everyday interactions. The juxtaposition of both Eastern and Western images is a great way to expose similarities and differences in various cultures and societies. Perhaps, what sparked her interest in the hope to change people’s perception of our identity and culture.

While my work has always had strings attached to the past. I am a firm believer that the future is always better. We’re not thriving every day for nothingness.. we’re building the future that we all want.

When I think about Armenians, I always have them categorized into two parts. Diaspora and people of our land. I love how the diaspora are so strong in their culture and traditions (although, it is getting vanished slowly) but I am a firm believer that traditions don’t easily fade away.

Being raised in An Armenian environment like school, scouts and all other activities has shaped my personality in one way or another. We were always thought to think, speak in Armenian, and even write in Armenian (although, sadly that doesn’t exist much at the moment). When I look back, I just get fascinated by the Willingness of our society, they did everything they could to preserve our Armenians. and I try to do that through my collages.