Whether we experience a surreal moment or dabble in processes like drawing without thinking or writing without self-editing, there’s something to be learned about ourselves and what lingers under the hood of our desires to keep life orderly and controlled.

“Surreal begets surreal means those bizarre dream like situations I found myself in, for me, have led to more of the same random situations, which I actually really like.”

Sharna Jackson AKA Artistic Director at Site Gallery, author, animator and boat enthusiast has been at the helm of Sheffield’s contemporary art space since July 2018. Site Gallery is CreativeMornings Sheffield’s home for the morning, with breakfast provided by Kollective Kitchen, the gallery’s new café.

“I think I might be the only black, female, young artistic director in the country which is great for me but terrible.”

Sharna wants people from all walks of life to visit Site, which has undergone a multi-million pound regeneration over the last couple of years and reopened its doors to the public in 2018. Sharna draws on experience from her work with Doc/Fest, the Children’s Media Conference and with the Tate to produce and curate a gallery which welcomes all through workshops, events and exhibitions.

Through her work with Tate Kids, Sharna has written activity books for kids and her first novel High Rise Mystery will soon be released. The next project is an animation for pre-school children, which Sharna is currently in the process of scripting.

“People say you go into autopilot when you’re grieving but for me that wasn’t the case. My grief manifests itself in a way that’s a catalyst for both personal change and creativity.”

From a gravestone obsession to her three Dutch barges (and another boat, but we don’t talk about that) Sharna has found herself in some surreal situations since her mum died in 2010. From funeral arrangements - Sharna fancied the funeral director. To the funeral itself - there was singing, dancing and even a fainting. To the wake - Sharna got drunk.

“That process has been one of the most defining moments of my life.”

But each surreal situation has led to something creative, a new idea or in the case of the gravestones, hours of design only for the finished product to be despised by her wider family when it did not turn out to be the minimal, sleek gravestone Sharna envisaged for her mum.

From the surreal process of grieving have come friends from all over the world, much loved  barge Anna Maria and books, animations and the rebirth of one of Sheffield’s favourite galleries.

“Life is too short to not live it how you want and I know that sounds like a Ronan Keating lyric but it’s absolutely true.”