Join us to experience Under the Sky, a thought-provoking exhibition by Jonesboro, Arkansas artist Lydia Dildilian, on view in the Merkle Gallery from August 3 through September 25. An opening reception honoring the artist will be held Monday, August 3, from 5:30 to 7:00pm. The reception is free and open to the public.
Working across painting, drawing, sculpture, collage, and installation, Dildilian creates layered works that explore memory, landscape, motherhood, migration, and the ways stories are carried across generations. Inspired by Ottoman and Mongol miniature painting traditions, Silk Road histories, and her Armenian heritage, Under the Sky invites visitors to consider how personal experiences connect to broader cultural histories.
The exhibition encourages viewers to engage with the artwork in unexpected ways. Interactive installations allow guests to build their own layered landscapes using transparent overlays and overhead projectors, creating moments of discovery and play throughout the gallery.
A featured installation, To Hold a Memory, offers an intimate viewing experience through small viewfinders containing photographic fragments from Dildilian’s daily walks during her pregnancy and after the birth of her daughter. The images pair Arkansas skyscapes with skies photographed during her research in the Middle East, where she studied Ottoman illuminated manuscripts and miniature painting traditions. By collapsing the distance between these two regions, the work reflects on the shared experience of living beneath one expansive sky.
Throughout the exhibition, Dildilian shifts between miniature and monumental scales, transforming the gallery into an immersive environment where landscape is suggested through color, pattern, and layered imagery. Drawing from contemporary media alongside historical artistic traditions, her work examines how memories, identities, and cultural narratives are shaped through both inherited histories and everyday life.
Born in Mission Viejo, California, Dildilian earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and her Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of Florida. Her work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States and internationally in Italy and China. She has presented ten solo exhibitions and participated in more than forty juried and group exhibitions, including the internationally acclaimed Salone del Mobile design biennale. Her work has received numerous awards and grants and has been featured in publications such as New American Painters, Studio Break, and Dovetail Magazine.
Dildilian currently serves as Associate Professor of Art at Arkansas State University, where she directs the Painting program and teaches painting, drawing, and design foundations.
The exhibit is free and open to the public during SAAC’s regular hours, Monday through Friday from 9am-5pm.
More about Lydia Dildilian
Email: lydiadildilian@gmail.com
Website: lydiadildilian.com
Instagram: lydia.dildilian
LinkTree: linktr.ee/lydiadildilian
Artsy: lydia dildilian