Proposal for a Site: Changing perceptions of places

Born in 1982 in New Orleans, Louisiana Currently lives in Oakland, California Zarouhie Abdalian creates subtle interventions into everyday perception. Often bordering on the edge of invisibility, her minimal installations engage with the specifics of a site. Through researching a location's history and physical features, she addresses the dynamics between visitors and a given space, arriving at simple adjustments that transform a viewer's physical or emotional understanding of an environment. Her refined modifications have included making a window flutter with Mylar and illuminating an abandoned building with lights set on timers. Abdalian earned her BA at Tulane University and her MFA from California College of the Arts. Her work has been included in numerous national and international exhibitions including Zarouhie Abdalian / MATRIX 249 at the Berkeley Art Museum (2013), the 9th Shanghai Biennial (2012), the 3rd Moscow International Biennale for Young Art (2012), and the 12th Istanbul Biennial (2011). In 2014 Abdalian will participate in Prospect.3, New Orleans. Abdalian is a recipient of SFMOMA's 2012 SECA Art Award.