By Kirana Haag
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Kirana_Haag.aspx
I feel that the thread connecting all my artworks is a related theme: strength and vulnerability. I am most strong when I am allowing myself to be vulnerable. I am at my most vulnerable when I am opening myself to creating artwork without a plan – all of my artworks were started with just one color and one mark, and from there, they developed over days and nights into the works that people see now.
As people look at my artwork, I invite them to find their own strength and vulnerability and to feel as though my artworks are reaching out and speaking to them, pulling at the different aspects of their own lives and experiences. I really encourage people to open themselves to the artwork and to allow themselves to be taken over by the color and movement in the work.
In the October of 2015, I held an exhibition entitled “Strength and Vulnerability” based on these concepts. I donated 10% of the proceeds of all art sales from this exhibition to the Diamond Pregnancy Foundation. I decided to donate to Diamond Pregnancy because in the past, I was one of those girls that Diamond Pregnancy helps out. Diamond Pregnancy is an organization that is set up to assist women and families that are facing an unplanned pregnancy. They provide immediate practical assistance, as well as emotional and spiritual support. I often wished I had this type of support when I was in that situation.
At the age of 16, I was pregnant, and my parents were absolutely against the pregnancy. All I knew, however, was clarity and a fierce desire to give birth to this child who I already felt so deeply connected to. At that time, I was not fortunate enough to have an organization like Diamond Pregnancy to turn to. Instead, it was the pure strength of my connection to the life growing inside me that carried me through, despite the lack of support that I had. Every day since then, I have been deeply grateful for that strength, because I now have my son Julius in my life.
It was that recognition of my own vulnerabilities and strengths that allowed me to make this life-changing decision, and that is why it is so important for me to share these concepts with others. It is through my art that I make that contribution.