I grew up in New Jersey and New York City, landing in the Bay Area 18 years ago. But I will admit, I'll always be a New Yorker.
I graduated from Drew University in NJ with degree in English while always taking art and acting classes. After college, I attended The School of Visual Arts for painting, illustration and jewelry, I'm also an actor and was studying acting at the same time, making theater and films. (To see more of that work, check out: emilykeyishian.com)
Currently I've been doing a lot of exploring of family history, the history of the Armenian people and the diaspora. I'm currently studying one of my native languages, Western Armenian (Բարե՛ւ). Collecting the stories: the beauty and the pain, the loss and death, and the survival and success. I'm so lucky to be a part of a group of Armenians and Turkish people who are willing to come together to heal and share stories. Being Jewish from Galicia/the Ukraine as well adds it's extra flavor of guilt, shame and pain, which is also part of the exploration. Also the fear of being found.
I struggle with what being "American" means. We were infused with so much shame, from the food we ate, the rituals, the "where are you from?" obvious you don't belong here vibe. But to keep forcing ourselves to "fit in" out of fear, fear of being found, of being caught, killed. But in trying to cover ourselves, we lost ourselves. We are already stateless, Armenia is a country, but it is not where my family is from. We are from Turkey, but we can't go back. There is no way to explain: we have no home, no root to return to and that affects us all to the core. I have always struggled with feeling rootless. I thought it was just from my experience growing up in a household dominated by a narcissist force. And it sure was that, but the unspoken rootlessness of not having a land. New York City was as close as we came to "our land" and between Queens and Brooklyn, you found that there were more people like you, But it's not a home. California is even less of a home, I feel the wounds of Native American upheaval. Majestic beauty, but feels taken for granted, replanted.
Abstract art allows me to find a path in the world where I struggle to find where I fit, where I belong on the earth. Working in a medium where I can find my way on a canvas without a very specific journey feels very comfortable to me, the way I have had to find my way in the world has always felt without roots. There is no set path that I have found for myself. These paintings allow me to express that uncertainty of belonging, of the body not being in the right place on earth, the journey my family took to get here, leaving a country they loved because they were forced out and always feeling like this land was a temporary stop before they went back, which they never could return. That lives within me and the way I am able to express this through my work allows me to be inspired by that chaos of nature that somehow survives even if it is a mistake or wasn’t meant to be planted there. These dark, tangled images draw me in and that is what I try to recreate. This taps into the psychological with my work, delving into what is familiar: the dark, uneven spaces, the brambles, the chaos of nature, the mistakes, the involuntary painting around us.
Making art whether it be on stage, on the canvas, or in metal. It's all connected. The more I work, the more questions beget questions, why make anything at all. But my history is calling and it is important to share, it's important to unfold the hidden notes I left all over, I thought I hid them well, but here I am finding them again.
The name devildoll comes from the band X, a punk band from L.A., I found that punk filled many holes in me for many years. So much humor and pain in the punk and hardcore movement, and it fed my soul for a long time. Music is healing and art is expression. It comes from every part of me. Punk was a family I was trying to join, I thought it would fill that hole in me, rootless hole. It did not fill that hole, it really didn't want me either. Nowadays music is still a major source of creativity and inspiration. It is hard to specify the music type I listen to now, but I am always searching for new music and going down rabbit holes of different types. (Thanks Pandora!) A few of my current faves are Tame Impala, Ben Bömer, Tycho, Amon Tobin, Aquasky, alt-J, Boards of Canada, Ulrich Schnauss, Caribou, Aan, Chet Faker, Deadmau5, Bonobo, Yppah. And of course, Hip Hop, especially from the early days. I use a lot of lyrics and song titles as titles to paintings and you may recognize some Tom Waits, Cat Power and Beck. The underlying mood and poetry of these musicians and writers inspire me and sometimes capture the moment of expression better than I ever could.
Somewhere in the Middle East, I will find my place, when I travel there again, maybe not in this lifetime, but it will be to find that root. Just a little one. Meanwhile, I paint, I make, I perform, I write.
I'm also a married mother of 2 boys, which has unbalanced and balanced me over and over. Being an artist, wife and a mother poses so many challenges that I end up feeling so grateful for: they help to constantly reshape me. The boys are older now, 13 and 15, I have a better balance and perspective. It's been an intense struggle, but growth is not optional if you want to live a full life.
email: [email protected] Instagram @thedevildoll TikTok: @thedevildolli Acting website www.emilykeyishian.com
Interested in hearing more? Interview here with William Sky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi-2s49gIp4&feature=youtu.be
I graduated from Drew University in NJ with degree in English while always taking art and acting classes. After college, I attended The School of Visual Arts for painting, illustration and jewelry, I'm also an actor and was studying acting at the same time, making theater and films. (To see more of that work, check out: emilykeyishian.com)
Currently I've been doing a lot of exploring of family history, the history of the Armenian people and the diaspora. I'm currently studying one of my native languages, Western Armenian (Բարե՛ւ). Collecting the stories: the beauty and the pain, the loss and death, and the survival and success. I'm so lucky to be a part of a group of Armenians and Turkish people who are willing to come together to heal and share stories. Being Jewish from Galicia/the Ukraine as well adds it's extra flavor of guilt, shame and pain, which is also part of the exploration. Also the fear of being found.
I struggle with what being "American" means. We were infused with so much shame, from the food we ate, the rituals, the "where are you from?" obvious you don't belong here vibe. But to keep forcing ourselves to "fit in" out of fear, fear of being found, of being caught, killed. But in trying to cover ourselves, we lost ourselves. We are already stateless, Armenia is a country, but it is not where my family is from. We are from Turkey, but we can't go back. There is no way to explain: we have no home, no root to return to and that affects us all to the core. I have always struggled with feeling rootless. I thought it was just from my experience growing up in a household dominated by a narcissist force. And it sure was that, but the unspoken rootlessness of not having a land. New York City was as close as we came to "our land" and between Queens and Brooklyn, you found that there were more people like you, But it's not a home. California is even less of a home, I feel the wounds of Native American upheaval. Majestic beauty, but feels taken for granted, replanted.
Abstract art allows me to find a path in the world where I struggle to find where I fit, where I belong on the earth. Working in a medium where I can find my way on a canvas without a very specific journey feels very comfortable to me, the way I have had to find my way in the world has always felt without roots. There is no set path that I have found for myself. These paintings allow me to express that uncertainty of belonging, of the body not being in the right place on earth, the journey my family took to get here, leaving a country they loved because they were forced out and always feeling like this land was a temporary stop before they went back, which they never could return. That lives within me and the way I am able to express this through my work allows me to be inspired by that chaos of nature that somehow survives even if it is a mistake or wasn’t meant to be planted there. These dark, tangled images draw me in and that is what I try to recreate. This taps into the psychological with my work, delving into what is familiar: the dark, uneven spaces, the brambles, the chaos of nature, the mistakes, the involuntary painting around us.
Making art whether it be on stage, on the canvas, or in metal. It's all connected. The more I work, the more questions beget questions, why make anything at all. But my history is calling and it is important to share, it's important to unfold the hidden notes I left all over, I thought I hid them well, but here I am finding them again.
The name devildoll comes from the band X, a punk band from L.A., I found that punk filled many holes in me for many years. So much humor and pain in the punk and hardcore movement, and it fed my soul for a long time. Music is healing and art is expression. It comes from every part of me. Punk was a family I was trying to join, I thought it would fill that hole in me, rootless hole. It did not fill that hole, it really didn't want me either. Nowadays music is still a major source of creativity and inspiration. It is hard to specify the music type I listen to now, but I am always searching for new music and going down rabbit holes of different types. (Thanks Pandora!) A few of my current faves are Tame Impala, Ben Bömer, Tycho, Amon Tobin, Aquasky, alt-J, Boards of Canada, Ulrich Schnauss, Caribou, Aan, Chet Faker, Deadmau5, Bonobo, Yppah. And of course, Hip Hop, especially from the early days. I use a lot of lyrics and song titles as titles to paintings and you may recognize some Tom Waits, Cat Power and Beck. The underlying mood and poetry of these musicians and writers inspire me and sometimes capture the moment of expression better than I ever could.
Somewhere in the Middle East, I will find my place, when I travel there again, maybe not in this lifetime, but it will be to find that root. Just a little one. Meanwhile, I paint, I make, I perform, I write.
I'm also a married mother of 2 boys, which has unbalanced and balanced me over and over. Being an artist, wife and a mother poses so many challenges that I end up feeling so grateful for: they help to constantly reshape me. The boys are older now, 13 and 15, I have a better balance and perspective. It's been an intense struggle, but growth is not optional if you want to live a full life.
email: [email protected] Instagram @thedevildoll TikTok: @thedevildolli Acting website www.emilykeyishian.com
Interested in hearing more? Interview here with William Sky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi-2s49gIp4&feature=youtu.be
Sheila's photo from a studio party at my studio in Brooklyn at 68 Jay back in the day.
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Eric Hammer's painting of me from when we shared space in the same building in NYC at 195 Chrystie St
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Ridiculous platforms at a studio party in Brooklyn at 68 Jay back in the day.
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In-studio process photos in collaboration with the amazing Jonathan Botkin https://www.oddbotkin.com/
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In-studio process photos in collaboration with the amazing Jonathan Botkin
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bonus items- I made a series of fabric works in 2010-2011 showcasing my illustrations
