Art & Beyond 2019

Ara Shahumyan (Shah) was born in 1978 in Yerevan, Armenia and was trained in the art of painting under the instruction of his father, esteemed and world renown painter, Haghtanak Shahumyan. Ara Shahumyan graduated from the Panos Terlemzyan School of Art in Yerevan, Armenia in 1996, and later went on to attain his masters degree in Fine Arts from the Yerevan State Academy of Fine Arts in 2002. His journey as an artist has since allowed him to exhibit his paintings and works of art throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the United States.Since 2014 he has been endowed as an Art Expert in painting and graphic arts for the State Expert Centre of Cultural Values National Gallery of Armenia. He has also been commissioned as a resident paint restoration artist by the National Gallery of Armenia since 2016.

My Art is a Concert on canvas where paintings became music, and music became paintings.

Olha Hernandez ia a nationally recognized abstract artist from South Bay know for her Modern Art.

She was born, raised and educated in Ukraine, residing in Los Angeles since 2007.

“I am an artist in my heart with life long interest in Art”.

She has developed her skills through independent study, art courses, and associations with other professional artists.

Her work has been exhibited in local and regional shows where she won various awards.

Her work can be found in public institutions, books, medical offices, and private collections. “Eyes on: Abstract”, “Eyes on: Landscapes “- books are edited by Joe Guimera, Manhattan Beach.

“My goal when creating art, is to do it with my heart and to breathe life into each of my peace of

art.”

Music is my favorite source of inspiration!

I process song as a color, music that translates into brilliantly colorful paintings what is sharing the same story. I am painting what i hear, feel, sense...

My brushes are dancing on the canvas, glass, wood, board, rocks, plates and my paintings became alive with story behind...

Taking "reduce and reuse" principle to the next level I build abstract 2d and 3d compositions with found objects from hi-tech world. Disassembled practical gadgets become pieces of the puzzle that join paint and clay in my artworks. The concept of my current series "Deconstructed" resonates well with "Evolve. Women. Wisdom." theme. It deals with the evolution of knowledge (computers, phones, robot gears, data, concrete) into wisdom (balance, minimalism, harmony, intuitive awareness, abstract).

Lina was born in Kiev, Ukraine, where she graduated from the School of Visual Arts. She has always strived to find balance between her passion for arts and interest in technology. In 2000 she obtained a

masters degree in computer science with a specialization in multimedia and creative technologies from USC, and now enjoys a successful career in software engineering. Lina has pursued her interest in visual art and has studied ceramics and sculpture in Los Angeles since 1996.

Linas clay and mixed media creations have been very well received in exhibitions at the Orlando Gallery, The Style Lounge, Pacific Design Center, VIVA Art Center, American Museum of Ceramic Art, Xiem Gallery, Red Dot Gallery in Palm Springs, Neutra Museum in Silver Lake. Her art is in private and corporate collections nationwide. Lina participates in the Annual California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art in Davis, California, and is a member of Los Angeles Experimental Artists group.

The initial inspiration for Catherine Kuzma’s paintings, nature, landscapes, serve as the spark that ignite a much deeper and intimate conversation with the subtle through the vehicle of painting. Sometimes the conversations are smooth and easy ones, while others more labored, thick with many layers. Regardless, the process has always been a meditative one for her, rich with realization. “Painting is what feeds me, it keeps my soul lit and burning. Without it I feel only half alive.” Currently her painting Under A Blue Umbrella is being exhibited at the National Arts Club in NYC, for the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club’s 122nd Annual Open Juried Exhibition . Her painting Chill Through The City is on view through February 2nd at the Medford Arts Center’s Faces and Places Juried Exhibition, juror Philip Carroll. The same painting was featured on the cover of the Tishman Review 2018 July issue volume 4, issue 3. Also, in 2019 her painting Winter Pines along with Dave Worrell’s poem Right Here inspired by the painting, is being exhibited at D & R Greenway Land Trust, Lovely as A Tree Juried Exhibition in Princeton, NJ. In 2018 some of her exhibits included the Manayunk-Roxborough Art Center, The Philadelphia Sketchclub, The National Arts Club, The Lancaster County Art Association, Medford Arts Center, Lumberton Leas Gallery, and the Center for the Arts in Southern New Jersey, Her paintings, current exhibits, and awards can be viewed on her website www.catherinekuzma.com.

Catherine Kuzma

EDUCATION

1986 B.A. in Fine Arts with honors, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ

Nominated for Stedman Art Student Award

SOLO AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2019 Moorestown Community House, MoorArts Gala Fundraiser,

group show, Moorestown, NJ

2018 Manayunk Roxborough Art Center, member’s group show, Phila., PA 2017-2018 Lumberton Leas Gallery, group show, Lumberton, NJ

2017 Inkwood, Poetry Series, solo exhibit, Haddonfield, NJ

2017 Medford Memorial Community Center, Winter Theme Group Show, Medford, NJ

2017-2016 Manhattan Athletic Club, solo exhibit, New York, NY

2015 PII Gallery, Close To Home, collaboration with poet Dave Worrell, Phila., PA

2014 Medford Arts Center, group show, Medford, NJ

SELECTED JURIED EXHIBITIONS / AWARDS

2019 National Arts Club, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club 122nd Annual Open Juried Exhibition, New York, NY

2018-2019 D & R Greenway Land Trust, Lovely as a Tree Juried Exhibition, Princeton, NJ 2018 The National Oil and Acrylic Painters’ Society, NOAPS 2018 Fall International Online Open Exhibition

Manayunk Roxborough Art Center, MRAC Ekphrastic Exhibit and Member’s Show, Phila., PA

Manayunk Roxborough Art Center, MRAC 10th Annual Juried Exhibition, Phila., PA

First Place Award, Center for the Arts in Southern New Jersey, Black Run Preserve 2018 Juried Art Exhibition, , Marlton, NJ

Lancaster County Art Association, LCAA Open Door Exhibition, Lancaster, PA

The Philadelphia Sketch Club, 155th Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings,

Phila., PA

National Arts Club , Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club 121st Annual Open Juried Exhibition,, New York, NY

2017-2018 Medford Arts Center, Small Works Exhibit , Medford, NJ

2017 Honorable Mention, Medford Arts Center, 9th Annual Fall Fine Art Juried Exhibition, Medford, NJ, juror Frank Hyder,

The Philadelphia Sketch Club, 154th Exhibition of Small Oil Paintings,

Phila., PA

2016 Medford Arts Center, 7th Annual Juried Fine Art Exhibition, Medford, NJ

First Place Award, Oil Painting Category, Lancaster County Art Association, LCAA National Juried Exhibition, Lancaster, PA, juror Neysa Grassi

2015 Award of Excellence, Medford Arts Center, Annual Member’s Show,

Medford, NJ

Medford Arts Center, Juried Member's Show, Medford, NJ

Honorable Mention, The Philadelphia Sketch Club, 2015 Large Format Art Open Juried Show, Phila., PA

Medford Leas Gallery, Art at the Arboretum Juried Exhibition, Medford, NJ

Smithville Mansion Annex Gallery, Smithville Annual Juried Show, NJ

Honorable Mention, The Plastic Club, The Great Outdoors Juried Exhibit, Phila., PA

Center for the Arts in Southern New Jersey, Annual Juried Exhibition, Marlton, NJ

Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Work, Gamblin Artist’s Color Co. Award, The Salmagundi Club, 37th Annual Juried Exhibition for Non-Members, New York, NY

Markeim Arts Center, Art of Sport Juried Show, Haddonfield, NJ

2014 Second Place Award, Medford Arts Center, Annual Member's Juried Show, Medford, NJ

The Center For The Arts in Southern New Jersey, Annual Juried Exhibition, Marlton, NJ

The Salmagundi Club, 36th Annual Non-Member's Show, New York, NY

Honorable Mention, Medford Arts Center, Happy 350th Birthday New Jersey Juried Exhibition, juror Philip Carroll , Medford, NJ

2013 Second Place, Medford Arts Center, 6th Annual Juried Exhibition, juror Fred Danziger, Medford, NJ

Best of Show Award, Markeim Arts Center, Bronze, Russet, Rouge Juried Exhibit, Haddonfield, NJ

PUBLICATIONS

Tishman Review, cover feature “Chill Through The City”, Volume 4, Issue 3,

July 2018

US1 Worksheets Poetry Journal, Volume 60, cover feature “October” painting, April 2015

Burlington County Times, Art Scene, “Happy Birthday New Jersey”, May 30, 2014

Close To Home, Lucia Press, 2015

Fox Chase Review, “Kuzma and Worrell at PII Gallery”, March 29, 2015

www.catherinekuzma.com

My art name is Lark - the bird that lingers between the earth and the sky. We artists do it at the moment of inspiration and meditation. That's how I create my art. I meditate and start with the spontaneous movements of my instruments; usually it is not a brush. A brush makes me think. My instruments are usually just pieces of cardboard. I also paint on any surface – canvas, board, plexiglass, glass, wood, etc – and I love to experiment and see what happens. My best creations take place in a state of no mind.

Although I begin the way abstract expressionists do and use some sumi-e techniques, eventually most of my creation starts shaping as abstract or impressionistic landscapes as ocean, sky, trees, flowers and mountain views start appearing from the formless. Nature is my source of inspiration, but instead of landscape details I channel nature's moods, the feeling of being one with nature, and swimming in its atmospheric light.

Light is what drives me to continue working. My mission is always to bring more light to people around me with my art, poetry and meditations. I know that viewers feel joy, peace and harmony when they look at my work, enter and settle inside it because it heals their emotional wounds and it makes me happy. Being an artist is an opportunity to express the fountain of my creative energy and at the same time serve people's needs in beauty that will heal the world.

When people perceive the light, the high and playful energy that my paintings emanate, they start feeling they are back in the fairy-tale world of their childhood, when their soul was open to transformations and miracles, and they feel like Alice in her enchanting wonderland.

From the beginning of her art career, Lark’s art caught the attention of art lovers and gained recognition from art jurors including LA Weekly critic Peter Frank, Santa Monica Museum Art Director Lisa Melandri and MOCA curator Alma Ruiz.

Fusing classical and contemporary art traditions, Lark's award-winning artworks carry her signature gestural brushstrokes and vibrant color palettes. They have been featured in the many prestigious exhibitions, art catalogs and sold globally in France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Russia, Armenia, Canada, Sweden and many other countries. In 2021 - 2025 Lark's art was exhibited in the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art and the Shiba City Museum of Art In Japan where Lark got two Gold Awards in the group shows.

After having a successful career in Interior Design and custom lighting, my passion for form and color led me to a unique artistic expression. With my keen design eye, I constantly formulate ideas inspired by nature, urban imagery - especially architecture - and , by my passion for travel.

My most recent series utilizes oil on wood or canvas. My subject matter of late has emerged from my fascination with fashion and the reflective nature of building exteriors as seen through their glass facades

Graduated UCLA - 1960

Partner at ADI - Interior Design Firm - 1965-1984

Partner - Marcus Banks Assoc. - 1985 - 89

Sales Mgr. - Alger International - 1989-2007

I hope to create work that reveals the organic foundations of humanness.

As a woman, I believe there are always parts of ourselves that carry the innocence and curiosity of a little girl. That energy—the wonder, the fearlessness, the vulnerability—still lives within us.

"Mirror Twins" are characters that many people can see themselves in. I choose not to reveal too much about them—I’d rather let viewers discover their own meaning and stories within the work.

Now more than ever, artists and creatives must stand up for the value of art. Even when the world isn’t ready to hear our voices—especially as some are being censored, edited, or erased—we must keep creating. It’s painfully clear that many of our communities are being silenced and pushed to the margins.

As an artist, cartoonist, creator, and teacher, I’m committed to encouraging others to stand boldly and make art that speaks truth. My own journey is always evolving. Maybe it’s okay that I don’t reveal everything. Maybe my role is more about connection—and keeping a few secrets of my own.

—Cristina Natsuko Paulos

Cristina Natsuko Paulos is an award-winning artist, animator, cartoonist, designer, and educator. She currently teaches commercial arts and digital media at a high school in the Clark County School District, and works as a freelance artist and workshop leader. She also likes to remind people: she’s a good human.

A BFA graduate of the California Institute of the Arts, Paulos’s work blends fine art and illustration, often featuring mirrored or twinned characters, expressive portraiture, and imagery inspired by real life. Her style draws heavily from cartoon aesthetics and deeply personal themes, creating a space where vulnerability, identity, and duality intersect.

Her original animation work has appeared on Sesame Street, and her artwork has been exhibited in prestigious galleries including La Luz de Jesus, Giant Robot, and the Cirque du Soleil Contemporary Art Collection. She has also been featured in two published books: Garden of Eye Candy and La Luz de Jesus 25: The Little Gallery That Could. Her films have screened at festivals in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, and she has collaborated with puppeteers to create toy theatre performances.

Since relocating from the San Fernando Valley to Las Vegas in 2002, Paulos has received multiple grants from the Nevada Arts Council, including two Jackpot Grants, a 2008 Artist Fellowship, and a 2005 Sesame Street Workshop Scholarship.

Paulos works with a wide range of materials—ink, paint, dye, handmade paper, canvas, wood, and mixed media. Her process is rooted in the philosophies of drawing, aiming to expose the raw, often hidden elements of identity.

“My artwork derives from life, juxtaposed with the cartoon world,” she says. “Using drawing philosophies, I try to reveal the marks we often try to erase—the flaws, the discomfort, the quiet parts of ourselves. Whether through cartoons or figures drawn from life, I explore what it means to be fully seen, completely vulnerable—naked, beyond form.”

Raquel Rub, born and raised in Lima-Peru, is a talented international artist, who studied Oil and Acrylic Painting at Brooklyn College, NY, and Pastel and Oil Painting at the Academy of Suarez Vertiz in Lima. Earned her degree in Interior Decoration at the Escuela de Decoración Interior de Miraflores in 1968. Raquel relocated to South Florida in 1975.

She is an accomplished and prolific artist who works in 2D and 3D utilizing an array of media such as acrylics, oils, ceramics, metals, pvc and stone. She has had several solo exhibits and has received numerous awards.

Through art she expresses herself with remarkable sensibility and spontaneity. She is the Florida Council President of Na'amat.

My work is a visual dialogue between the discarded and the resilient. I find beauty in "fragments"—crushed metal, torn envelopes, weathered stamps, and forgotten notes—transforming these remnants of urban life into harmonious compositions.

In the series submitted for "Bridging Through Colors," I use mixed-media assemblage as a metaphor for healing. Just as a crumpled piece of paper or a discarded object can be integrated into a new, balanced whole, our fragmented experiences and diverse backgrounds can find unity through the universal language of art.Each piece serves as a "bridge": between the industrial and the organic, the personal and the collective, the chaotic and the serene. My process involves layering textures and colors to create a space for quiet reflection. By giving a second life to materials that have been cast aside, I invite the viewer to see the possibility of rebirth and transformation in the world around us.

Tatiana Savchenko is a Los Angeles-based mixed-media artist whose practice explores the intersection of urban materiality, personal memory, and emotional resilience. Her work is characterized by a "visual dialogue" between found objects—such as industrial remnants, vintage correspondence, and discarded fragments—and expressive layers of acrylic and watercolor.In 2026, Savchenko’s presence in the Southern California art scene was highlighted by several key exhibitions. She was featured in the "March/Forward" showcase at Shoebox Projects within the Brewery Arts Complex and participated in the StARTup Art Fair at Venice Beach. Her collaborative artist book, LA: Two Voices, One City, created in partnership with Gregory Desgouttes, exemplifies her commitment to exploring unity and connection through shared creative narratives.By transforming everyday debris into layered, atmospheric compositions, Savchenko invites viewers to find tranquility and "healing" within the chaotic textures of modern life. Her work serves as a bridge between the mundane and the spiritual, aligning perfectly with the global call for empathy and connection through the universal language of art.

Haghtanak Shahumyan, one of the contemporary Armenian modern-art painters was born in 1944 in Yerevan, Armenia.

The first steps of his professional development were done in 1961 in the studio of well-known armenian sculptor Ara Sargsyan, where he studied till 1963.

From 1962-67 he studied at the department of painting in the Yerevan State Institute of Fine Arts & Teatre. After graduating he became a member of the Union of Painters of Armenia.

Heading an administrative position in the municipality of Yerevan for more than 14 years (working as a chief painter of the capital city from 1976-1989) he continued to create new masterpieces and participate in the republican and international exhibitions. He had more than 37 personal exhibitions in Armenia, Poland, Norway, USA, France, Spain, Australia etc…

1977 Yugoslavia (Piran)

1983 Lithuania (Dzintari)

1985 Poland (Warsaw)

1989 USA (Watertown) 1991 Norway (Oslo)

1992 USA (Boston)

1994 France (Paris)

1996 France ( Embassy of Armenia in Paris)

1996 France (Paris “Mann” Gallery)

1996 France (Lyon)

1996 France participated in ‘Art forum’ ‘ Ivart’ gallery in Paris

2000 Australia (Sydney ABS Art Gallery)

2000 Australia (Melbourne)

2005 Spain (Barcelona)

2007 France (Paris)

2010 Armenia (Yerevan)

2014 Armenia (Yerevan solo exhibition dedicated to artist’s 70th anniversary).

His works are exhibited in state and private collection in Armenia and abroad.

Since 2010 Haghto was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Armenia

Since 2013 he was awarded golden medal from the Ministry of Culture of RA.

I discovered my interest in art at a young age visiting art museums back in Russia. In my childhood I occasionally entertained myself by drawing caricatures and small sketches. They became popular and were collected by friends and family. I gravitated to portraiture and figurative art. What intrigues me most is uniqueness, emotions, and harmony I see in the faces of people around me. I want to share and expose this inner beauty. As I struggled to find my own path, the works of Sergei Bongart, Robert Henri and Joaquin Sorolla guided me.

Learning in art is a never-ending and exciting journey. I have spent much time improving my skills and studying the figure at life drawing and painting classes of California Art Institute and Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art, LAAFA.

I am a member of Portrait Society of America and Oil Painters of America. My work could be found in private collections nationwide, as well as in Italy, Peru, Chili, Japan, and Russia.

I discovered my interest in art at a young age visiting art museums back in Russia. In my childhood I occasionally entertained myself by drawing caricatures and small sketches. They became popular and were collected by friends and family. I gravitated to portraiture and figurative art. What intrigues me most is uniqueness, emotions, and harmony I see in the faces of people around me. I want to share and expose this inner beauty. As I struggled to find my own path, the works of Sergei Bongart, Robert Henri and Joaquin Sorolla guided me.

Learning in art is a never-ending and exciting journey. I have spent much time improving my skills and studying the figure at life drawing and painting classes of California Art Institute and Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art, LAAFA. I feel lucky and privileged to study with wonderful artist Glen Orbik, Ignat Ignatov, Vadim Zang, and Millie Green.

I am a member of Portrait Society of America and Oil Painters of America. My work could be found in private collections nationwide as well as in Italy, Peru, Chili, Japan, and Russia.

Each one of my pictures is a scene.The background, props , clothes , hair-styles , grimes and of course the attitudes themselves - gestures, facial expressions - raise exuberant stories. Every story is relative, everything is slightly warped so that even on the tenth of twentieth viewing it continues to intrigue. The story is never finished.

Biography

Photographer Heike Suhre was

born in 1960 in Münster, Germany and lives

in Emmen in the Netherlands. After studying at

the Arts Academy of Enschede in the Netherlands,

Suhre went on to have many exhibitions and awards all over the world .

International Exhibitions :

2015 “CONVITTO RAGUSA” MUSEUM in NOTO SICILY

2015 Dundas Street Gallery Edinburgh , SCOTLAND

2015 “ARTIST FOR Unicef at the Politeama Theatre in PALERMO.

2015 SPECTRUM FAIR MIAMI USA

2016 INTERNATIONAL TRIENNALE IN VERONA ITALY

2016 Blank Wall Gallery ATHENS GREECE (solo exhibition)

2016 Southern Museum Fine Art in LAS VEGAS NEVADA USA

2016 Museum of Marrakech MOROCCO

2016 LEYDAN Art Gallery ,WINDSOR , ONTARIO – CANADA

2016 International Exhibition in NAPLES - Castel Dell'ovo

2016 PARIS - FRANCEART FAIR – CARROUSEL DU LOUVRE – PARIS.

2016 ROME - ITALY at the Palazzo Brancaccio

2017 Biennale de Arte Barcelona - Spain

2017 Biennale Peschiera del Garda .

2017 BIENNALE MEART IN PALERMO – SICILY

2017 INTERNATIONAL EUROPEAN MUSEUM OF MODERN ART Barcelona - Spain

2018 BERLIN INARTE WERKKUNST Gallery - Berlin Germany

2018 International BIENNAL of Flanders at Oud Sint Jan Museum

2018 South Korea The Haegumgang Theme Museum

2018 Emmen The Netherlands

2019 New York at the Big Appel Artosino Gallery

2019 South Korea The Haegumgang Theme Museum

Awards:

2012

Heike Suhre wordt Grote Paul 2012 - Netherlands

2015

Award Artists at the Castle – Nerola (ROME) Italy

International Noto Award – Unesco Heritage- Italy

Marco Polo International Price, Art Ambassador - Italy

2016

International Prize Leonardo Da Vinci - The Universal Artist- Italy

2016 International Prize CANAletto Artistic Career AWARD in Venice -Italy

2016 INTERNATIONAL PRIZE WOMENS ART WORK - MOROCCO

2016 INTERNATIONAL PRIZE SHAKESPEAR AWARD - Verona -ITALY

2016 INTERNATIONAL PRIZE Excellence Palm Art Award -Germany

2016 WINNER of the INTERNATIONAL FIRST PRICE - People's Choice PX3 AWARD - Prix de la photography Paris - FRANCE

2017

INTERNATIONAL PREMIO TROFEO ARTE IMPERO AWARD in ROME ITALY

BIENNALE MEART IN PALERMO – SICILY Winner of the Award Best photographer

Winner of the International Prize Dante Alighieri – Peschiera - ITALY

Winner of the international Award Galileo Galilei – Pisa – Italy

Winner of the Milan International Art Award, The critic committee presided by Vittorio Sgarbi, the italian art critic most known in the world.

Winner of the International Award Francisco Goya Barcelona – Spain

2018

International Award Raffaello – in Bologna - Italy

www.hsfotografie.com

As an educator and visual artist in New Orleans and now Chicago, I first became attracted to recycled, found, free, or cheap materials as a means of creation due to the equity and accessibility of material, and the accessible visual language found in that material which both inhabits and defies the concept of “fine art.” While living in New Orleans I saw Henri Matisse’s cut out forms everywhere — in the tropical foliage, the shapes of cast shadows, the Old World architecture, and especially in the vibrancy of Caribbean colors. I began to experiment with naturalist shapes inspired by Matisse and the fragmented, yet cohesive book cover designs and collages of John Gall. Then I gravitated toward using materials with variations in value and hue to create a sense of light and movement in works comprised of naturalistic shapes. Since returning to Chicago, I’m moved and constantly inspired by the intuitive compositions my students create as well as the stratified elements of Chicago — its people, languages, architecture, and ever-changing borders. In my abstract series of paper collage, I investigate images of nature and manipulate dissected parts of those images to create compositions that are layered and shifting.

Alicia Zapata received her Master's Degree in Art Theory, Criticism and History and Certificate of Museum Studies from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. During that time she completed internships with Brooklyn Museum and International Center of Photography. Her academic focus was on American photography of the twentieth century and during this time she began to work in analog photography as an artistic medium. After graduate school, she taught middle school and high school darkroom photography at Marwen Art Center in Chicago for years before becoming an elementary school art teacher. From 2015-2018, Alicia taught visual art in New Orleans where she created and built two art programs as well as worked on large scale abstract paintings and began two different collage series which she continues to work in today. Currently, Alicia teaches middle school art on Chicago's northside and continues to work in collage and painting.