Seta Manoukian
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1945 (age 80–81)
Seta Manoukian | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | Seta Manoukian 1945 (age 80–81) Beirut, Lebanon | ||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma | ||||||||||||||||||
| Occupations | Painter; Buddhist nun | ||||||||||||||||||
| Years active | c. 1967–present | ||||||||||||||||||
| Known for | Painting, installation, performance art | ||||||||||||||||||
| Notable work | Lebanese Children and the War (1977); Tache rouge et bleue (1982); Painting in Levitation (2018) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Movement | Modern Lebanese art | ||||||||||||||||||
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Seta Manoukian (born 1945) is a Lebanese painter of Armenian descent and a Buddhist nun. She is regarded as part of a generation of modern Lebanese artists whose work reflects the cultural and political transformations of the late 20th century. Her artistic practice has evolved from explorations of psychological space and war-related fragmentation to later engagement with themes of exile, spirituality, and Buddhist philosophy.[1][2]
Manoukian was born in Beirut into an Armenian family.[1] She studied under the Lebanese-Armenian painter Paul Guiragossian between 1960 and 1962.[1]
At the age of seventeen, she won first prize in an art competition and received a scholarship to Perugia, Italy.[1] She later graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma in 1966.[1]
Career
After returning to Lebanon in 1967, Manoukian held her first solo exhibition and became associated with the Beirut art scene.[1] Her early work focused on interior spaces, abstraction, and psychological tension.[1]
During the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), she taught at the Lebanese University and worked with children in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, incorporating their experiences into artistic and educational projects.[2][3] Her work from this period reflects fragmentation, instability, and the impact of war on urban and psychological environments.[2]
In 1985, she relocated to Los Angeles, where she continued her artistic practice and exhibited internationally.[2]
Artistic development
Manoukian's work is often discussed in terms of distinct phases[4]:
- Early period (1960s–1970s): Exploration of interiority, stillness, and psychological space.
- Civil war period (1975–1985): Depictions of fragmentation, violence, and urban collapse.
- Exile period (1985–2000): Engagement with displacement and identity, including the “T-shapes” series featuring suspended figures.
- Buddhist phase (2000–present): Emphasis on spiritual themes such as impermanence, emptiness, and consciousness.[1][2]
Style and themes
Manoukian works across painting, installation, and performance art.[1] Her practice combines figurative and abstract elements, often employing symbolic imagery such as fragmented bodies, empty spaces, and recurring motifs related to survival and transformation.[2]
Following her engagement with Buddhist practice, her work shifted toward contemplative concerns, reflecting themes of balance, inner awareness, and the nature of consciousness.[5][6]
Buddhist life
In 2000, Manoukian became associated with a Theravāda Buddhist community in Los Angeles.[7] In 2005, she was ordained as a Buddhist nun in Sri Lanka and received the name Mother Sela.[7]
She later engaged with the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and was given the name Ani Pema Tsultrim Drolma.[8]
After nearly a decade focused on Buddhist practice, she resumed painting in 2016.[7]
