COMPASSION IN ACTION
Compassion in Action is a journey of discovery and understanding to illustrate that it only takes one person to begin the process of freeing ourselves from these painful legacies and begin the process of change for all generations.
The act of knitting as a metaphor represents the complexity of humanity’s wrongdoings and to show the ties between all living things. In this exhibition the knitting represents the binding together of events, beliefs and generational trauma. The unraveling represents breaking free of these bindings.
Release Me
Curated by Maureen Weiss
Directed by Hayley Hirsch
In this durational performance the artist knits herself into a cocoon/cage of cotton and silk/mohair yarns and then breaks free from her prison.
The Red Lotus: To Witness, To Release
“May you know peace, may you be happy, may you be free from all pain and suffering.”
The Undoing: Forgiveness
The artist’s hands knit and unravel sticky waxed hemp twine accompanied by community recorded audio stories revealing a wrong experienced and the desire to forgive wrongs committed.
The Audience
The most important component to Compassion in Action is audience engagement. During Release Me, audience members sit across from the artist taking in the intimate stories being shared, asking the artist questions, sharing personal stories of how they relate to generational trauma, and interacting with the yarn beside them.
While experiencing the exhibition, audience members write poems, draw pictures, and leave comments on post it notes that would then flow on the walls surrounding the performance. Click below on a post it note to see what viewers had to say.
