Courage depicted in art

OLGA LIVSHIN

Panagiotis Peter Sarganis’ solo show at the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery, Dust/Breath: A Day in the Life of Noah Sebastien Klein, unfolds two interlocking stories: the story of Noah Klein, a Vancouver teenager, and that of the artist. The connection is one of the most tragic events in recent history – 9/11.

On that day, Noah was four. His family lived in New York, and his mother was taking him and his baby sister to his preschool, which was located near the World Trade Centre. Noah didn’t see the towers collapse but he heard it. He was close enough to inhale the dust. Later, articles were written about the many kind strangers who helped the young mother with two children to safety.

Sarganis met Noah five years later, when the family moved here.

“I took Noah’s photos three years ago. I wanted to paint his portraits,” the artist recalled. “This boy is amazing, so brave and caring. He’s had health problems since birth, breathed through a tracheotomy for years. It was there during the catastrophe of 9/11; the doctors only removed it a month after I took the photos. But despite his health problems, Noah’s love for life is unbelievable. He never let his ailments stop him.”

Impressed by Noah’s courage and energy, Sarganis decided to make a series of portraits following one day in the boy’s life. The show’s double name, Dust/Breath, reflects the duality of 9/11: the disaster and the survival.

For years after the towers collapsed, Sarganis tried to comprehend the calamity, to put his troubled feelings into artistic images. “I often thought ‘What if my friends had been there?’... When we became friends with Noah’s family, I found that I did have friends who lived through it.”

Part of the exhibition is comprised of a series of photographs Sarganis took of a yellow stroller. The stroller belongs to Noah’s family. It was with Noah, his mother and sister on 9/11. Like them, it survived and it has continued its regular service, carrying a baby. For the artist, this mundane object symbolizes the theme of the show: triumph over tragedy.

Whether the tragedy is international – the blight of terrorism – or personal – the affliction of poor health – it takes pluck and perseverance to overcome either, and Noah has demonstrated both in abundance. That’s why the focus of Sarganis’ show is the eight portraits of Noah.

“When I paint a portrait, I try to convey the essence of the personality,” the artist explained. “I try to capture the character of the person or the key events of his life. It’s challenging. You struggle to reach inside and discover the true nature of your model.”

In the case of Noah, Sarganis succeeded in his self-appointed task. His admiration for the boy’s spirit leaks through the images into his viewers’ hearts. The paintings are neither pretty nor decorative, but they evoke strong emotions. One of them, “Noah in the Kitchen,” is a finalist of the Kingston Prize, a Canadian portrait exhibition that occurs once every two years. In 2011, of 451 entries, the jury selected 30 paintings to travel throughout the country, among them, “Noah in the Kitchen.”

But being an exhibiting artist is only half of Sarganis’ professional life. The other half belongs to his teaching, which grew organically from his artistic vision and his love of learning.

“Since Grade 1, I’ve always been at school, learning or teaching, except for one year, my first year in Vancouver,” he said, explaining that he arrived here after graduating from the fine arts program at Concordia University in Montreal. Finding work as a full-time artist wasn’t feasible, he said, so he started working at the Bay. A year later, he was a department head of sports shoes, but he couldn’t deny his artistic inclinations for long. He quit the job at the Bay and went for a teaching degree at the University of British Columbia.

Since then, for 17 years, he has been teaching art at Langley Fine Arts School, although he doesn’t consider himself an art teacher. “I’m an artist who shares art with his students,” he said. “I help them find out what they are.” With pride, he recited his students’ multiple artistic accomplishments. “Teaching art is frustrating and fascinating, rewarding and tiring, but it’s never boring,” he said.

For Sarganis, teaching complements and influences his painting and vice versa. Both activities are crucial for his development as an artist, he said, noting, “I don’t like painting. I like playing hockey; that’s what I do for fun. Painting for me is not something to relax and enjoy. It’s how I process the world. I can’t stop painting. I’m not a nice person when I do.”

Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].

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