Part of Winter 2003
It is a pleasure to present local film hero Gariné Torossian with a collection of her recent work including her new film How My Mothers Embroidered Apron Unfolds In My Life. As an artist, Torossian has weaved a remarkable body of work that continues to amaze audiences with her powerful manipulation of collaged imagery. From the early images of her first films Visions (1992) and Girl from Moush (1993) to the recent mysterious and ecstatic homage to the Quay Brothers in Shadowy Encounters (2002), Torossian has developed a unique and arresting visual style that evokes a multitude of meanings through layers of collaged fragments. Weaving together layers of imagery Torossian creates a mysterious and melancholic evocation of memory and history.
“It’s like life itself: You’re trying to understand so many things at the same time. By creating layers and actually putting it into film, you can get to the essence of something that doesn’t exist physically.” Constructing her work with the methodology of an archeologist, Torossian carefully extracts and manipulates visual material from a variety of archival and contemporary sources including the art works of the Starn Brothers, the Quay Brothers and, with her most recent film, the work of painter Arshile Gorky.
