As a Jewish child during the Holocaust in Europe, Gabriella Karin escaped capture and death many times before the Nazis were overthrown in 1945. She survived by living in a convent for three years and then hiding with her family for nine months in an abandoned apartment building. Although physically safe, she did not emerge unscathed. Suppressed memories of her past came flooding back once she began to fashion sculptures related to the Holocaust later in life.
In this presentation, she recounts her journey and presents examples of her art. Her experiences and her creations offer an important insight into trauma and how creativity can be used as a tool to process memories of oppression, persecution, and loss.
Karin is a docent at the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust and participates in the Righteous Conversations Project, which unites survivors and students through art.
Watch Trauma, Memory, and the Art of Survival with Gabriella Karin.