about
Valley of the Possible, picture by Mirla Klein
Kyra Sacks (1989) is a visual artist, social anthropologist, and art educator based in Amsterdam. Her work merges drawing with ethnographic research to explore identity, place, and the complex structures shaping our world. Through layered, intimate images and stories, she challenges dominant narratives and embraces contradiction. Kyra exhibits at Gallery Fleur & Wouter and has work in collections including the Amsterdam City Archive and AkzoNobel Art Foundation. She led research on displacement, belonging and social change using arts-based methods in both public and corporate sectors.
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.”