Featured Artist Dalar Alahverdi | Artsy Shark

Enjoy the astonishing interactive portfolio of artist Dalar Alahverdi whose work expresses hidden stories and layers of meaning. See more by visiting her website.

From as far back as I can remember, I was always working with my hands trying to create something—folding a simple napkin into a human figure, inventing characters, and creating stories for hours. As a child walking down the street, I often wondered what was hidden behind each wall, what untold story belonged to every home.

That sense of curiosity—this desire to uncover what lies beyond the surface— and creating with my hands has remained with me throughout my life.

Over the years, I explored different painting techniques and experiments, but it was the idea of layering that opened a new door in my artistic path. Through layering, I discovered a way to translate my curiosity about hidden narratives into visual form. This led first to my two-layered mixed media works and later to UV light–activated pieces that invite viewers to reveal what is concealed. Both formats share the same impulse: to look beyond the visible and uncover meaning through discovery.

The themes of my work are rooted in collective trauma and the human experience. As a descendant of an Armenian family marked by genocide and ongoing conflict, I inherit a history of silence, loss, and displacement that extends beyond the personal to the communal. Through my art, I aim to give form to what remains hidden and unspoken—both as a way to honor these shared histories and in the hope of pointing toward greater understanding.

An early series of two-layered works shaped my love for interactivity. These pieces required viewers to shift their angle to uncover the hidden narration (the first couple of works). I found it powerful to watch people move and search—becoming part of the process of discovery. One example is Nine Testimonies, which features nine eyes, each with a different skin tone and color.

Behind every pupil is a mirror reflecting an image of a real event tied to the surface layer. To understand the whole story, the viewer must change perspective—becoming, in a sense, a researcher themselves. The piece reflects my study of genocides and collective traumas across cultures, a reminder of how widespread this illness of human nature remains.

Building on these works, I began experimenting with fluorescent and rhodamine pigments activated by UV light. Here, the hidden layer often holds the central message, revealed only when viewers shine light on the piece. For example, in As Counted, what first appears as a grid of sticks—symbols of numbers—is revealed under UV light as human figures, each representing a real person.

My aim is for viewers to uncover these messages themselves through movement and curiosity. When viewers pause in surprise and I hear their “Oh look,” I know I’ve succeeded—that moment of discovery is what I enjoy most. I believe that when meaning is discovered rather than given, it leaves a stronger imprint.

Perhaps next time someone sees a news story or statistic, they’ll pause to consider the human lives behind it.

Dalar Alahverdi invites you to follow on Instagram and Facebook.

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