Mariam Muradian

Artist’s Statement

I am Mariam Muradian, the Artist/Painter of The Genetic Bill of Rights Painting Series. This is my statement.

I was born an Artist. My Father was a cellist, artist, mathematician, and composer. My Mother was a concert pianist who wanted to be a doctor (who later attended the University again in her 50’s and became an HIV/AIDS researcher.) My parents always encouraged and nurtured my gift.

I am a formally trained artist, alumni of The School of The Art Institute of Chicago and La Universidad Literaria de Salamanca, Leon, Spain, among other fine institutions of higher learning. My degrees/course work is in Fine Arts, Foreign Languages & Literature, Linguistics, International Studies, Educational Leadership: Instructional Technology Systems Design, Cognitive & Behavioral Science, Human/Computer Interface Design. I have had many opportunities in my life; have lived and studied many places in the world.

My collaborations with C.C. Arshagra on this Genetic Bill of Rights Painting Series, and other art/life endeavors, have been the most rewarding and important of my career and of my life’s contribution to the human race. I immediately knew how important it was to paint the Genetic Bill of Rights when C.C. introduced the idea to me in 2006. I was uniquely qualified in that I have dealt with a rare, aggressive metabolic disease my entire life. As I progressed through the series, I progressed through blindness, a side effect from a prescribed heart drug. I am 100% dependent on a multi-lead permanent pacemaker; I am a cyborg and thus I have been wrestling with and living these precepts/choices my entire life. Art at its best mirrors life and gives hope to those who will see. When you see the Genetic Bill of Rights, you realize that these and all rights come down to the individual, because if you don’t have control of your body, you can’t master anything outside yourself. We all interface with technology at different levels. Individually, whether the circumstance is deciding on medical care or replacement/enhancement, ethics, policy, life or death, the food we eat, or simply how to survive while living in a developing country; we each must grow into a level of accountability where we can assert our rights in regards to those choices. “Choice is will.”~ C.C. Arshagra If you don’t know that such rights exist, you’re not going to be able to make a choice/decision when you’re confronted with that technology, on whatever level. For your YES to be yes, and your NO to be no, for any combination of grey thereof, or for any foundation of belief ….you must know your fundamental rights. I consider this series my most significant artistic and social achievement. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to paint these. I trust that these artworks will go on to freely live, travel, and speak their intended message to inform, inspire, and motivate responsible species of the biodiverse world.

Mariam Muradian
June 2008

Mariam Muradian
Artist, Author
mariam@thebigboxofcolors.org
www.redbubble.com/people/muradian