Anita Toutikian
B. 1961, Lebanon
Anita Toutikian is both an artist and a psychologist. She explores unconventional ways to challenge habitual thought patterns and establish new perspectives on art and life. For her, art serves as a means of resistance against mental manipulation and cognitive oppression. Toutikian's artistic journey began with studying Painting and Fashion Design at the Académie Michel-Ange des Beaux-Arts, followed by further studies in Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture at Hamazkayin Fine Art Academy. She then pursued a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology at Haigazian University, specializing in Art Therapy, and later earned a Doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology with a focus on Art Therapy at Saint Joseph University.
Toutikian is recognized as a founding member of the Lebanese Psychological Association and the Middle East Eating Disorders Association. She has extensive experience as a university lecturer, and has organized and facilitated numerous trainings and workshops. Additionally, she is the author of several publications in her field. She received an Honorary Mention from Sursock Museum for being a Pioneer Conceptual Artist in Lebanon in 1997. The following year, she was further honored by the Sursock Museum with the First Prize for her achievements.
About her Work
Anita Toutikian's The Wishing Tree is an interactive installation invited people to write their wishes on pieces of cloth and hang them on the tree, with the belief that their wishes would come true. The installation was created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of artist Arshile Gorky's death. Gorky, a survivor of the Armenian genocide, had a significant influence on abstract expressionism but tragically took his own life in 1948. Gorky often depicted the "Holy Traditional Armenian Wishing Tree" in his paintings. Toutikian's installation, exhibited at FABRICA on Huvelin Street, was part of the group exhibition "Armenian Artists: 50 years in Lebanon."
Anita Toutikian
The Wishing Tree, 1998
Mixed media
Loan from the artist