BIO
Anoush Bargamian is a contemporary artist, master art educator, and designer whose tactile, multilayered practice explores memory, identity, belonging, texture, material, and form.
Bargamian utilizes a variety of unconventional materials, painting techniques, and substrates. Her work also encompasses monoprints, screenprints, mixed media, and sound. Her recent paintings primarily incorporate beeswax, encaustics, graphite, inks, and oil. Building her work through layers, she allows elements to emerge, disappear, and resurface. Her process is both meditative and intuitive, with repetition and rhythm creating a space for experimentation, play, and discovery.
Bargamian is a member of A.I.R. Studio + Gallery in Glencoe, Illinois, where she will present her first solo exhibition, Stories We Carry: Memories, Color, Childhood, & Belonging, in October 2026.
Bargamian’s work has received institutional recognition through the Armenian Museum of America in Watertown, Massachusetts, which acquired her monoprint Armenian Kochari Dance for its permanent collection in 2026.
In 2026, Bargamian joined AS220’s Community Studios in Providence, Rhode Island. She was recently accepted as a Community Keyholder Member, where she continues to create screenprints and mixed media projects.
Bargamian’s studio practice has also been informed by her 2026 international artist residency with Pollinator, where collaborative peer models supported further material experimentation and inquiry.
Bargamian has been represented by Gallery Z in Rhode Island since 2009, first at its Federal Hill location in Providence and now at its Warwick location. In Chicago, her work is represented by 6311arts and is also exhibited at Alma Gallery.
Bargamian holds a Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees from Massachusetts College of Art and Design and the University of Illinois Chicago. Having taught extensively in both private and public settings, she brings a deeply rooted academic and pedagogical background to her studio practice. She selectively fosters community engagement through master workshops and recently co-taught a specialized traditional Japanese Gyotaku printmaking workshop at A.I.R. Studio and Gallery alongside her son, fellow SAIC alumnus and A.I.R. Studio + Gallery member Aris Buechele.
STATEMENT
What draws me in and gives me pause—both in the natural world and in the landscapes I dream about or remember—is the raw, rough, and sublime. From these outer and inner environments emerge works that are at once provocative, beautiful, and, at times, terrifying.
The ongoing series Pajama Party is intentionally uplifting and playful, evoking a lighthearted moment of girlhood and youth. While much of my other work explores darker, more complex themes, this series offers the freedom to experiment with bright color and a sense of joy. I hold the deep belief that even in shadowed times, we must remember—and create—joy whenever possible.
The works presented here are created primarily with encaustic and beeswax—materials that invite rich texture, translucence, and depth. Through the continuous layering, scraping, and fusing of wax, I explore transformation, impermanence, and the delicate tension between what is revealed and what remains hidden.