Multi-disciplinary artist Sharon Kagan uses string as both object and metaphor. Her statement reflects the joyful nature of her work: “I am working to make the eyes dance.”

Multi-disciplinary artist Sharon Kagan uses string as both object and metaphor. After her mother died in 2003, Kagan found comfort in knitting; it soothed her grief and provided a physical expression of continuity and connection. She notes that although her mother didn’t think of herself as an artist, “her amazing hand skills” included knitting, sewing, and embroidery.

A series of sculptures based on knitting and nets evolved into Kagen’s recent drawings and paintings. She begins by making close-up digital photographs of knitted threads using low light and shallow depth of field. This adds blur, pixelation, and random digital “artifacts” to her images. Kagen outlines and enhances the patterns on printed enlargements, contrasting flat, geometric grids against the organic, twisted strands. Finally, she translates some of the works into acrylic paintings.

Referencing DNA and string theory, Kagan hopes to make tangible the knowledge of physicists and mystics, “that all matter is composed of rapidly moving energy. Nothing is solid and nothing is separate. Everything is vibrating.”