about
Kyra Sacks
artist-anthropologist
Amsterdam, 1989
Art and Education
Utrecht School of the Arts (Ba, 2010)
Social and Cultural Anthropology
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
(Ma, 2019, cum laude)
kyramarcella[@]gmail.com
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“I am drawn to contradictions: by how both infinite possibilities, beauty and resilience can exist side by side with uncertainty, injustice and destruction. In an attempt not to be numbed by such contrasts, I explore how they are perceived and connected. I search for images and words that uncover the space in between. Between text and image, between looking outwards and inwards, between small stories and larger structures. By mixing anthropological research with my art practice and vice versa, a web of meanings, questions and interactions emerges, a deep map of the world that, hopefully, draws us closer. ”
info
Kyra Sacks is a visual artist, social anthropologist and art educator from Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She creates artistic and anthropological research projects for the corporate and public sector in which she combines writing and drawing, video and audio installations and mapping practices. Kyra strives to integrate art and social science in a way that makes pressing issues relatable and tangible.
Valley of the Possible, picture by Mirla Klein
testimonies
“Je werk heeft vaak een weemoedig of melancholisch gevoel dat veroorzaakt wordt door de confrontatie met het onherroepelijke aan verandering. Jouw tekeningen lijken de grote onderwerpen een menselijke maat te geven, waardoor je je er als kijker mee kunt verbinden; kunst en wetenschap verstrengelen zich met elkaar.”
“Kyra brought her art mastery, her heart, her vast intuition and a unique ambidextrous, uncanny in-tune-ness to bare in an infinitely complex and trying assignment. She did not just deliver the basic agreement, she shaped and made the whole journey something it wasn’t before we brought her in. We depended on her in the best possible way. In the way partners should. Kyra is an artist and practitioner working courageously at the outer edges of her metier - understanding the full power of art as a force far greater than the performative.”
“She made things personal and subjective, and provided access to people’s lives, memories, dreams and routines, without turning things sentimental or merely appealing to compassion. (…) She manages to get close to people’s daily trivialities and ups-and-downs, and demonstrating how these make real lives – which is the best thing humanities or social sciences can do.”
“Kyra Sacks has more than an artists’ vision: she has a deep understanding of human behaviour and motivation. That’s what makes her drawings so multi-dimensional. They capture more than a moment. They resonate with the whole process, trigger memories, initiate conversations and move ideas forward.”
“Haar veelzijdigheid is haar kracht. Ze is in staat dingen ‘af te pellen’ en heel snel tot de kern te komen. En het dan zo te formuleren of te verbeelden dat anderen met haar mee kunnen. (…) wij ontdekken door met haar mee te gaan.”
“An exploration of the crossroads between graphic art, poetry and ethnography.”
“Ze is staat menselijk lijden op een tactiele manier te verbeelden.”