Armenian-Americans: Art and diasporic identity in Los Angeles

Diaspora is a condition of our contemporary world. To express the tensions inherent in the construction of a diasporic identity, artists of Armenian descent living in the United States (referred to as Armenian-Americans in this dissertation) have produced rich visual material. In seeking to understand how Armenian-Americans stage their identities in Los Angeles at the turn of the 20th century and the start of the 21 st, this dissertation examines some of the contemporary visual strategies employed by seven artists. I argue that the art they create attempts to not only project their experiences, but enables them to work through their diasporic identities. In my dissertation, I interrogate key works of the following seven Armenian-American artists working in Los Angeles: Sophia Gasparian (b. 1972), Ani Kupelian (b. 1948), Zareh Meguerditchian (popularly known as "Zareh") (b. 1956), Alina Mnatsakanian (b. 1958), Ara Oshagan (b. 1964), Levon Parian (b. 1955), and Vachig Ter-Sarkissian (known as "Vachag") (b. 1956).;The complexity of a diasporic identity begs certain questions that are posed in this dissertation: Where does the diasporic Armenian-American artist consider his/her homeland? How then, if at all, does the diasporan, outside of a "homeland," construct an identity tied to it? And finally, how does the work of these artists relate to the mainstream culture of the host country of the United States?;Even though the artists' styles and mediums vary greatly, key themes are evident in their artistic production. By examining their visual practices from a diasporic perspective, I expose several fundamental themes in their construction of identity. These themes are explored in separate chapters in this dissertation and include the following: a visual reconstruction of testimony in the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide of 1915; intense experiences of loss and nostalgia as they search for "home(s)" and "homeland(s);" and finally, an empowered reclamation of personal and historical fragments to restore their hybrid identities and embrace their transnational selves.