Lily Vorperian
Lily Vorperian | |
|---|---|
 Vorperian in 1994 | |
| Born | 1919 |
| Awards | National Heritage Fellowship (1994) |
Lily Vorperian (born 1919) is a Syrian-born Armenian American embroiderer known for her work in Marash-style embroidery, for which she was given a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in the 1990s.
Embroidery
[edit]Vorperian first learnt embroidery when she was twelve[1] from older women in the Armenian refugee community[2] either who worked at the textile factory her parents ran in Syria[3] or came to her house to receive aid distributed from her parent's home.[1] They taught her eighteen different styles of regional embroidery,[2] but Kambourian took to the Marash style "because it was the hardest".[1] She carried on embroidering in her adult life and after her move to the United States. In 1986, took part in a folk arts program in Los Angeles[4] and she was given a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1994.[1]
Vorperian's work included traditional Armenian designs such as khachkars[1][5] flowers, geometric designs, the Armenian alphabet,[6] and lines from Armenian poetry. A re-occurring theme of her later pieces was the Armenian genocide and people.[1] She embroidered for seven to eight hours each day,[4] with the remaining hours going towards planning new designs.[6] A 1995 review of Vorperian's embroidery in The Los Angeles Times noted the complexity of her work and said that to call her an embroiderer was akin to "calling Coco Chanel a dressmaker".[4] She refused to sell her designs, preferring instead to keep the majority of her work and occasionally loan individual pieces to museums,[4] though in 1990 she embroidered a copy of the logo of the Armenian Relief Society for the organization to display.[7][8]
In 1995, Vorperian's art was put on display alongside two other Armenian artists at the Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and Science. The exhibit was called "In Silver and Threads: Patterns of Armenian Tradition" and was sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Armenian National Committee of America, and the Armenian Studies program at California State University.[9][10]
In 2022, her son, Hratch Vorperian, published a book dedicated to her embroidery.[11]
Personal life
[edit]Born Lily Kambourian in Aleppo, Syria,[1] she was the youngest of three children in an Armenian family[3] from Marash.[1] Her mother, Zekia, had spent time in Germany and worked as a translator for the German military in Turkey, and her father, Haroutioun Kambourian, was a textile merchant.[3] They survived the Armenian genocide,[6][1] fleeing Turkey for Syria a few years before their youngest daughter's birth.[2] Kambourian grew up in an Armenian refugee community[2] in Aleppo.[1] She married a local businessman, Haroutioun Vorperian, in 1937.[1] The couple had four children, including Rita Vorperian.[12][13] Haroutioun died in 1953, and Lily Vorperian was forced to sell her belongings to look after their children.[1]
Vorperian moved to Beirut in 1964, but was forced to move to the United States in 1978[1] due to the Lebanese Civil War.[3] She eventually settled in Glendale, California.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Lily Vorperian". National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
- ^ a b c d Congdon, Kristin G.; Hallmark, Kara Kelley (2012). American folk art: a regional reference. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. pp. 660–661. ISBN 978-0-313-34936-2.
- ^ a b c d Melkonian, Karen Soma (1994). Traditional Armenian needlework: Marash interlaced embroidery and the artistry of Lily Vorperian (Masters thesis). California State University, Dominguez Hills.ProQuest 304138229
- ^ a b c d e Hamilton, Denise (1995-07-27). "Stitches in Time : Through Her Elaborate, Intricate Works, Lily Vorperian Keeps Alive a Centuries-Old Art Form". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-04-19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Dakessian, Sylvia (November 1995), "Stitching it Up", Armenian International Magazine, p. 45
- ^ a b c Couzian, Diane (1996-05-21). "Armenians' struggle inspires artist". The Gazette. p. 22. Retrieved 2025-04-20 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ National Heritage Award Winners, 1982-1996 (PDF), NEA, pp. 46–47
- ^ ARS logo by NEA Heritage award winner Lily Vorperian, Armenian Relief Society Nairy Chapter, Montebello, California, 2012-07-13
- ^ "Silver and thread crafts speak of varied Armenian traditions". The Fresno Bee. 1995-03-10. p. 56. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
- ^ "Standard fare: Museums". The Fresno Bee. 1995-04-30. p. 95. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
- ^ Vorperian, Hratch (2022). Lily Vorperian - Marash Embroidery. Primedia eLaunch LLC. ISBN 979-8-88757-194-2.
- ^ Kouymjian, Dickran (March 1995). "Celebration of Armenian folk arts". Hye Sharzhoom. Vol. 16, no. 3. pp. 1, 6.
- ^ Vorperian, Rita (1999). A feminist reading of Krikor Zohrab (PhD thesis). University of California, Los Angeles. ProQuest 304507729