Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara explores the nature of family and the American Dream. Through a narrative video, Markosian recreates the story of her family’s journey from post-Soviet Russia to America in the 1990s. In it, the artist grapples with the reality that her mother, seeking a better life for herself and her two young children, came to America as a mail-order bride. Markosian’s mother chose her future husband who lived in Santa Barbara, a city made famous in Russia when the 1980s soap opera of that name became the first American television show broadcast there.