Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sharon Kagan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sharon, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

“Release Me” was a durational performance I did at Alfred University in 2022, which was part of a solo show curated by Maureen Weiss called “Compassion in Action.” I sat in the gallery knitting for five hours for five consecutive days. The voiceover had my parents telling their stories of pain and loss, strength and resilience during the Holocaust, me telling my stories growing up with Holocaust survivors, music and sounds from nature. After a lifetime of asking who would I be if my parents weren’t survivors, I was ready to let it go. “Release Me” wasn’t a request it was a proclamation.

The set included a backdrop of a German hunting tower, similar to concentration camps’ guard towers, two chairs tied together with blue yarn (one for me and the other one for anyone who wanted to sit with me), and grass seed.

Students and faculty joined me in the gallery, many staying for hours; others took the opportunity to sit with me sometimes knitting, asking questions and sharing their deepest wounds. Interacting with the students was profoundly meaningful, their openness and vulnerability. One student and I had a powerful conversation about loss. She will forever live in my heart.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My multimedia work focuses on listening, unraveling, and pulling apart the complexities of intergenerational trauma, forgiveness, and resilience. I bring my experiences as the daughter of Holocaust survivors to my work. I have developed a complex practice that is built upon the symbolic act of knitting. Layering intimate stories onto the act of knitting transforms this traditional woman’s craft into a distinct language; a metaphor. My work speaks to the patterns that are created when a life is broken, a stitch is dropped. But breaking can also be an act of breaking free. I see resilience, beauty, and integrity amidst my parents’ broken lives.

All of my work is time-based and durational, whether it is in the form of a performance, video, knitting or embroidery. I am consciously aware of the passage of time and seek to make my audience aware of time.

Although I am not a practicing Jew, I believe my work is driven by the tenet, Tikkun Olam, to heal the world.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Most recently, I had “simple” brain surgery that didn’t go as expected. I had difficulty expressing myself and I had absolutely no sense of myself as an artist. In fact I was left with the question, who am I if I’m not an artist anymore? I made many sacrifices in order to be an artist, now what? After three months I got an email from a writing teacher. I’d been receiving these weekly missives but never considered taking the class. Then it jumped out of my computer screen. I didn’t know if I would be able to write, let alone string a series of words together into a coherent sentence. I decided I would go to one meeting. To my delight, it was a safe space and I could tell my story to total strangers without any judgment. I continued in the class for nearly two years. Without realizing it I had begun working on a new performance.

I relearned an old lesson, trust yourself, trust your instincts and trust that when the ground seems fallow new life will spring forth.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I know that the pandemic changed us in many ways. It seems that people are either desperate to get out or find it difficult to leave the house. My suggestion is that we put down our cell phone, tablets and turn off our computers and get out there. Go to gallery openings, we love to hear from people who respond or have questions about our work. I personally love to go to all sorts of cultural events; dance performances, listen to live music, theater. Try things you haven’t done before. Find affordable venues and experiment, go places you haven’t been before. If you have empty walls buy art that speaks to your whole being, don’t buy mass produced prints, buy original art. Look for galleries that focus on emerging artist. Place yourself in the cultural community.

There are countries where artists are supported, the national galleries buy art from unknown and well-established artists. That doesn’t happen here so we have to do it on a one-on-one basis.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sharonkagan.com/
• Instagram: @sharonkagan
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sharon.kagan.7
• Youtube: @sharonkagan2487