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Mari Merabi is a pen and ink artist from Armenia. She was born in 1974. The works represented here were done in the period between 2000 and 2006.

An artist's statement roughly translated from Russian follows:

"I never know what will be represented in my drawings. I begin with a detail and become simply disconnected from time and place... All is dissolved. In a deeply meditative-silence inside, images begin to appear on a white page. During such moments there is no self. I hear nothing, I do not actually see (only shadows) and I do not feel... When work is finished, I come back to my normal senses.

"In general, I do not like to draw, but if I do not,  the consequence is terrible and I become depressed. After a picture is finished, I feel disconnected from what I have done and am both confused and amazed that these images came from my hand. Some of the figures actually frighten me... There is little that I actually understand. The energy of the art itself goes beyond any personal history or explanations. The essence remains concealed and in the shadows. It is the purpose of many practices to reach it.

I have searched for answers in churches, with friends, in reading, meditation, prayer, Buddhism, Krishnamurti, talking to priests. . . . I have long searched for the way. Kastaneda, who does not preach any religion, speaks of energy and penetration into realms that are not answered by religion, psychology and parapsychology. Ultimately  the quest is a private affair for each person."

Mari can be contacted at marimerabi@hotmail.com