Diana Ossana Guerbitchian
"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do" - Rumi
Who Am I?
A lover of life, of nature and of the vivid spectrum of colors, I have painted all my life, I started with watercolors and used to paint impressionistic landscapes, and now I am primarily working with oils and abstraction. Growing up in France, my love for color blossomed under the influence of my mother whose timeless elegance and passion for textiles and fashion taught me, from a very young age, how to blend shades and create a harmonious interplay of contrasts and textures.
I have travelled a lot and when I lived near Boston, I formally studied watercolor and oil painting with William Griffiths at the Worcester Art Museum. At the same time, I painted with the Cape Cod School of Art in Provincetown. I now live in Canada where the raw beauty of nature and the proximity of water continue to inform my work. I live very close to the Ottawa River and the ethereal element of water often infuses my work with shades of green and blue.
My Process
When I paint, each brushstroke is a testament to the wisdom of my years and the complexities of womanhood. My process is a symbiosis of my life - with its cycles and transformations – and of my materials which allow me to express my immense reverence for the Universe and for the magnificent nature that constantly surrounds and nourishes us.
In my studio, I am in an ageless space where I feel fully alive and all my senses are heightened – the paint, the brushes or the palette knife guide me in a welcome surrender. I am often taken back to the many places I have visited and my paintings are an expression of my lived experiences. When I paint, a momentum builds and a movement takes over, I just flow with it, and I dance what I call the choreography of life. It is my way of celebrating our beautiful world, as well as my womanhood, and my inner journey that continues to unfold through every layer of paint.
I call my art world ZIVAYA because of two profound influences in my life: my Armenian heritage and my transformative journey through India. Armenia is an Eastern European nation of deeply creative people whom I learned to appreciate all through my life. India is a land of extremes and its profound philosophy challenged me, inspired me, and transformed me.
In the Hindu tradition, Lord Shiva, is the destroyer of the old to make way for the new. In Eastern European traditions, there is a deity with a similar essence named Ziva, representing life and vitality. To honor both these strong influences on my life, I created ZIVAYA—a fusion of the Eastern European God "Ziva" and the Indian Sanskrit suffix "ya," meaning "of" or "relating to". By signing my paintings ZIVAYA, each piece becomes a gift, imbued with the vital, life-giving force of Shiva or Ziva.
Why Zivaya?
When I paint, I feel utterly triumphant and completely fulfilled
Contact Us
Email
info@zivaya-art.com
Phone
(613) 741-1737
Location
Ottawa, ON, Canada