Special Edition Newsletter 2022
Compassion in Action
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"My students were just blown away--in time, in the durational spell of the piece, they told me that they had no idea materials, a body, small gestures could take on such epic significance."
Dr. Robert Reginio, Professor of the Humanities
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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. |
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Release Me
5-day Durational Performance
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In this durational performance I knit myself into a cocoon/cage of cotton and silk/mohair yarns and then break free from the prison by unraveling the knitting. |
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The Red Lotus: To Witness, To Release |
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“May you know peace, may you be happy, may you be free from all pain and suffering.” |
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Two strangers sit in the safety of The Red Lotus. One is a silent, compassionate listener. The other is free to share anything as the listener recited the Metta Practice.
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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. |
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The most exciting component of Compassion in Action has been audience engagement. During Release Me, audience members sat across from me taking in the intimate stories being shared, asking questions, sharing personal stories, and interacting with the yarn provided for them.
While experiencing the exhibition, audience members wrote poems, drew pictures, and left comments on post it notes that would then flow on the walls surrounding the performance.
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BOOK OF ESSAYS BY RENOWNED SCHOLARS & CRITIC
I am currently compiling a book of essays in response to The Undoing: Forgiveness video performance. It is exciting, affirming and thrilling to say that so far we have the following essayists:
Dr. Jane Goodall, activist, primatologist and anthropologist
Sharon Salzberg, Buddhist teacher and author
Dr. Larry Ward & Dr. Peggy Ward, Senior dharma teachers
in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh & authors
David Pagel, Art Critic & Curator, Professor at Claremont Graduate University
Srilatha Batliwala, social activist, advocate of women's rights & scholar
Lucia Horan, 5Rhythms moving meditation teacher
Shana Nys Dambrot, Arts Editor, LA Weekly; Flaunt, Art & Cake, Artillery
Sunita Viswanath, women's & human rights activist
Elena Brower, teacher, author & speaker
Dr. Esam Daod, mental health specialist, founder & CEO
Dr. Daod's Center for Mental Health & Wellbeing
Erika Kindsfather, art historian
Everett L. Worthington, Jr., clinical psychologist, professor at VCU
Patricia Russo, creator of The Hell Yes Life
Dr. Jordana Blacksberg, Ph.D in Materials Science & Engineering
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One reason Kagan’s video is so different is because it is intimate. The people in it are brave enough to be vulnerable.
David Pagel, Art Critic & Curator, Professor Claremont Graduate University
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With her own background in performance art and its documentation, and through a triple lens of feminism, Jewishness, and community, Kagan has been working in a liminal space between private and public soul-searching.
Shana Nys Dambrot, Arts Editor, LA Weekly; Flaunt, Art & Cake, Artillery
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Exhibitions, Publications, Screenings & Film Festival Awards
2019 - 2022
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Solo Exhibitions
October - December 2022
String Theory (solo exhibition), Herrett Center for Arts and Science, Jean B. King Gallery, College of Southern Idaho, 2020
String Theory (solo exhibition), Hardin Center for Cultural Arts, Gadsden, AL, 2019
String Theory (solo exhibition), Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT, 2019
Selected Group Exhibitions
Kipaipai Group Exhibition at Melissa Morgan Fine Art, Palm Desert, June 2022
The Street & The Shop, NeueHouse in the Bradbury Building. Curated by Michael Slenske
Publications
5 New Exhibitions to Check Out, Angeleno Magazine, by Claire Harper, October 2020
Screenings
December 2-4, 2022
Film Festivals
Award Winner for best experimental film
London Indie Short Festival
Austin International Art Festival
Official Selection for best experimental film
The Impact DOCS Awards
LA Sun Film Festival
LA Independent Film Channel Festival
London New Wave Film Festival
Santa Barbara Film Awards
LA Indies
Toronto Film and Script Awards
Berlin International Art Film Festival
Toronto Indie Shorts
New York Independent Cinema Awards
SoCal Film Awards
Finalist for best experimental film
San Diego Shorts
Special Projects
Maiden LA, SOS.Siren, in collaboration with Snezana Petrovic. Online studio visits, panel discussions, 2020
Grants
Word is a program of American Jewish University’s Institute for Jewish Creativity.
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One devise for the live stream, another to capture the audience and the last for 4K video. |
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Dear Friends and Supporters,
My experience at Alfred University is indescribable. The joy of connecting with the students, watching them engage with the work, listening as they opened their hearts to me are all things I will always cherish.
I am looking to bring the show including the durational performance to other venues. Please reach out if you have any interest in sponsoring the exhibition.
Best, Sharon
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