INTERVIEW: Merrill Black Aharonian | Ogunquit Art Association (OAA) Showcase Artist

Merrill Black Aharonian is an Ogunquit Art Association member-artist (Painter) and one of our 6 Showcase Artists at Barn Gallery for the 2024 Season.

Merrill Black Aharonian’s Showcase at Barn Gallery will run from September 11th – October 14th, 2024 with an Opening Reception on Saturday, September 14th (from 4PM – 7:30PM) and a Gallery Talk (along with Painter, Patricia Gerkin) on Thursday, September 19th (at 6PM).

Learn more about the Barn Gallery 2024 Schedule: barngallery.org/2024-season

How long have you been a member of the OAA? And what do you like best about it?

I’ve been a member since 2015. I love seeing other people’s work, and hearing about their process—I really appreciate the artists’ talks and demonstrations, the opportunity to see in more depth and in an intimate setting how people approach their work and what it means to them. I like creating bid cards for the auction, multiple small works that spark new ideas, and the carnival atmosphere of the event. I love seeing members return year after year with new work, and welcoming new members, particularly younger people.

What is the title of your showcase and whom are you sharing the event with?

The title of our showcase is “Soundings”, and I share the event with Pat Gerkin. I love the organic elegance of Pat’s work and am delighted to be sharing the walls with such an experienced and skilled artist.

We arrived at the title because so much of our work draws on water and the ocean, evoking a sense of floating and buoyancy. The ancient method of dropping a line to “sound” the depth of a body of water parallels what we do as abstract artists. We sound out the unconscious to create an intuitive visual topography representing our experience and observations.

Can you tell us a little about the two artworks (which can be seen below this interview) that you’ve shared with us for this digital preview of your showcase?

In the paintings Ripples and Radiance, I used paint, ink and paper to explore organic shapes, the liminal interplay between water and light. In both, I was mesmerized by the tactile experience of working with materials — I enjoy finding a pattern within the chaos. These two pieces seemed to paint themselves after that “aha” moment occurred.

Let’s talk, for a moment, about your creative process.

I sometimes start with an idea or theme but more often, I assemble materials that appeal to me, and start playing, letting them guide me until some discovery emerges that pulls the piece together. Sometimes, creatures and landscapes from my dreams emerge on their own within the contours of the paint. That absorption and surprise, the moment of resolution after extended dialogue with the piece all draw me back to the creative process again and again.

Tell us about how this showcase moves your art journey forward.

As a child, I was lucky enough to be “art adjacent,” surrounded by imagery in art books and the museums where my mother worked. I attribute much of my visual curiosity to her, and to my son, who was a cartoonist and graffiti artist. In my sixties, I married long time Barn Gallery member, Russell Aharonian, and moved from art adjacent to art immersion. We share a home studio that feels like living in one of his paintings, every wall and surface covered with something engaging to look at or play with. I get to witness the evolutions of his creations daily.

Creating and assembling work for this showcase has shown me how much I have yet to learn as an artist. I am looking forward to the winter break to explore more deeply some of the patterns, textures, materials and techniques I’ve discovered while preparing for this showcase.

Merrill Black’s essays have appeared in the New York Times, New York Press, UnderWired Magazine and in the anthologies Autobiographical Writing Across the Disciplines, published by Duke University Press and Becoming Portsmouth: Voices from a Half Century of Change, The History Press. In 2018, she gave a TEDx talk in Portsmouth, NH, titled “Embarrassed to death: The cost of shame’s silence.”

A 2003 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow in Creative Non-fiction, she taught Nonfiction Writing at Southern New Hampshire University and now helps students develop their college admissions essays through the Arthur Ashe Institute of Urban Health in Brooklyn, NY.

Merrill Aharonian circled back to visual art in her sixties. She uses collage, acrylics, charcoal and mixed media to explore landscape and figurative form. She is continually inspired by her husband Russell L. Aharonian, and artists everywhere.

She lives in Portsmouth, NH with her husband, seacoast artist Russell Aharonian. Merrill is currently working on a memoir about generational alcoholism intertwining the stories of a mother’s recovery and her son’s death from the disease, bearing witness to the powerful community, enduring sense of connection and surprising moments of joy that can emerge from addiction, recovery and loss.

LEARN MORE: merrillblack.com