As a first-generation descendant of Armenian immigrants, Kira was raised with an acute consciousness and compassion for the human condition. Losing the majority of her extended family as a result of political unrest, Kira heard stories of the intolerable cruelties and near obliteration of her struggling people throughout her childhood years. Her 15-year career as a social worker further influenced her insight and inspiration as an artist and her acute observations of the plight and eventual rebirth of the human spirit.

Today, Kira is the founder and director of the nonprofit organization Clay Kids for Health, which makes bedside visits within the Children’s Hospitals of Orange County, Calif. Trained by Richard MacDonald, this internationally honored artist has been sculpting full time since late 2006.

Artist Statement
“A strange kind of fire burns within me when I sculpt. It begins somewhere deep within my chest and spreads like a flame throughout my body and my mind. It finds my fingertips within seconds, and I no longer need the heat to warm my clay. My hands ignite each of my creations, as the vision of what will soon exist ignites within me. I am meticulous; I follow this fire to its ‘second skin’ in the clay. As a sculptor, I make bronze tender, and in return, it strengthens and solidifies me.”

Title

Go to Top