Natalie Horberg: Far and Wee

Future Visions is an exhibit opportunity for a high school student of exceptional promise to have a solo show of their work in the Youth Exhibition Space.

ARTISTS STATEMENT

Growing up is a process that is constant and universal; regardless of how old you are, regardless of who you are and where you come from, it is something that will never stop. The struggle to understand ourselves, to try to be the best we can be while at the same time undergoing persistent and inevitable change, is one that will continue throughout our lives.

While developing this main idea behind Far and Wee, I came across questions that, initially, I found difficult to answer: Why does art matter? What does art have to do to matter? How can I make my art matter?

After some time, I reached this conclusion:

What art has the powerful ability to do is take personal experiences and emotions and manifest them as truthfully as possible in the physical world. By allowing yourself to be vulnerable through art, you are exposing something that- despite how unique and personal it might seem- has the potential to connect with many, many others. In the end, art cannot and should not be forced. It naturally has the ability to spread empathy in the most unexpected, effective ways; the common divides between people are forced to be torn down and the most simple things that unite us all shine through.

I was inspired by E.E. Cummings’ poem “In-Just Spring” ( “it’s spring and the goat-footed balloonMan whistles far and wee”), to create a series of work that expressed these current personal, yet shared, struggles tied to growing up. Through a series of media, such as illustration, photography, painting, and sculpture, Far and Wee is a world, like E.E. Cummings’ poem, wherein the smallest details give the strongest message and the oddest creations hold the most relatability and truth.