TORONTO, ON, May 20, 2026: Titled “Painting an Unfinished Portrait,” this episode of Dispersion features two Armenian visual artists: Chicago-based painter and artist Jackie Kazarian, and Armenian-Dutch biodesigner and artist Shushanik Droshakiryan. This new season of the Dispersion podcast is a special series dedicated to Armenian artists from across the global diaspora for Armenian Heritage Month in Canada.

Pictured from top to bottom: Jackie Khazarian, Shushanik Droshakiryan, and Dispersion host, Jen Haddow.

In conversation with Dispersion host Jen Haddow, the artists, Kazarian and Droshakiryan, reflect on the evolving nature of Armenian identity as something to question and continually reshape, rather than something fixed or singular. They explore how their work emerges from personal curiosities and encounters with Armenian narratives.

Kazarian discusses her wide-ranging painting practice, noting how her Armenian-focused works have often emerged through museum and institutional commissions, including a major piece marking the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Whereas Droshakiryan, founder of the Amsterdam-based lab Venus in Fury, describes how she reworks Armenian material traditions and cultural memory into experimental biomaterials, treating heritage not as a static reference point but as something active and continuously evolving within her design process.

Armenia (Hayasdan) painting by Jackie Kazarian.  Kazarian’s vibrant paintings, wallpapers and theatrical backdrops exist at the intersection of landscape, abstraction and perception.  Drawing from a variety of materials and techniques, she expands the scope and scale of painting by collaborating with designers, architects, dance choreographers and other makers. To read her full biography, please click here. You may also choose to explore more of her artwork on her website here.

Photos of the Venus in Fury Lab by Shushanik Droshakiryan. Droshakiryan’s creative journey began with traditional Armenian carpet weaving at the National Centre for Aesthetics in Yerevan, where the material and ornamental logic of Armenian carpets formed her artistic thinking. To read her full biography, please click here. You may also choose to learn more about the Venus in Fury lab here.

To listen to the episode, please click the image below:

New episodes of this season of Dispersion will be released every Wednesday during the month of May for Armenian Heritage Month! You may find us on all streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Acast, Amazon Music, and YouTube.

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