Korea Now
14 January 2016
14 January 2016
Lebanese, with Armenian origins, slight and delicate; Karen studied at the Domus Academy in Milan, and creates unique design pieces, predominantly in metal, which are exhibited in galleries and sold in her Beirut showroom. Her country’s culture, reinvigorated by her Italian education, gives her pieces a special, expressive power. In December of 2015 she participated in Art Basel Miami for the noteworthy design gallery Carwan, of Beirut, showing a selection of her works.
Among them was a large, oddly-shaped table, made of wood layers held by a gold metal column, two chairs that imitate the shape of stones atop an erupted volcano, sculptural solids with sharp profiles in brass or reflective steel, large, polygonal vases in copper, and coffee tables in lucid brass. The common denominator of her creations is her partiality towards multifaceted shapes and full volumes that dissolve the natural elements used on the surfaces into precise finishes, almost like those of a goldsmith.
WHERE: Fayad Building, Darwish Haddad street, Beirut Port, Lebanon
The Moodboarders is a glance into the design world, which, in all of its facets, captures the extraordinary even within the routine. It is a measure of the times. It is an antenna sensitive enough to pick-up on budding trends, emerging talents and neglected aesthetics. Instead of essays, we use brief tales to tune into the rhythm of our world. We travelled for a year without stopping, and seeing as the memory of this journey has not faded, we have chosen to edit a printed copy. We eliminated anything episodic, ephemeral or fading, maintaining a variety of articles that flow, without losing the element of surprise, the events caught taking place, and the creations having just bloomed.