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<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nSage Szkabarnicki-Stuart, Centrist IV, 2024, archival pigment print & hand applied varnish, 48 x 35.75 in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Living in the city and now on a farm can really make a person contemplate past and present; so, Sage was able to build a new connection with her family\u2019s past. She was mostly raised by her grandparents and this exhibition is a beautiful tribute to them.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nSage Szkabarnicki-Stuart, Korovai, 2024, archival pigment print, 36 x 48 in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sage\u2019s work will take you by surprise because you will realize her hands-on process and traditional practices show how she cherishes her cultural traditions. Some of us do not believe in materialistic possessions and when we are displaced or forced to leave our homes and all we had behind, we still believe that wherever we go we can build a home again. As long as we treasure our ancestors and keep their teachings in our hearts, it does not matter what we carry in our bags. Sage shows how she\u2019s done this in her work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of her photographs evoke memories of family gatherings and the sweet smell of crispy breads. Especially when she depicts Eastern European scenes, she poses women in her work to show her ties with her heritage. It is always important to remember the traditions of generations past, especially when facing displacement or immigration, so the new generations will remember their origins. In images like \u201cBread Burning,\u201d Sage reflects heavily on family traditions, many of them revolving around food. Baking bread from scratch is a time consuming process. In this composition the artist depicts her successful and failed attempts at baking braided bread. Braided bread is a strong symbol in many religious traditions that connects and ties families together, regardless of where we are. These values hold strong like a braid. Bread is also part of rituals that involve blessing and it has magical properties as it is baked using fire that our mothers, and the women before them, lit. Flames keep us alive and enlighten our family history for generations to come.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nSage Szkabarnicki-Stuart, Bread Burning, 2024, archival pigment print. 36 x 48 in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In \u201cGirls Room,\u201dSage tells a story of her childhood. When they moved into their new home, she was greeted by abandoned dairy goats roaming the house. One of them was wearing a pink collar, indicating that it was kept as a pet by the daughter of the previous owners. This photography portrays a piercing narrative of nostalgia. This sense of an abandoned place made the artist think about how hard it must be to get used to an empty house where there was once a home filled with life and laughter. And now that there are people living in the house again, how challenging it is for them to make themselves comfortable, even with all of those goats around and some of them not very friendly at first.<\/p>\n\n\n