“Fleeting Youth” by Emma Overman
“Since I gave birth to my daughter Annabelle,” Emma Overman explained, “all the work I create is either about her, or for her in some way or another. Her tastes, her interests, her books, and her toys all inspire me. She’s a wonderful little muse who takes up all of my time.”
Throughout the month of July, the Harrison Gallery presents Fleeting Youth,a show by HCA artist Emma Overman.
Overman might be well described as an artistic translator as she leads her viewers into the language of their youth. Her work seems to whimsically grab you by the hand and lead you into the world of a past life, or maybe it’s more of a world that you used to know, but have lost with age. The element of youth that has passed away somewhere along life’s continuum gives Overman’s work a feel of familiarity, and perhaps even nostalgia. However, this body of work is not free from the sense that something is lost.
“Before Annabelle was born, I had had a miscarriage,” said Overman, “and I had some visuals in my head that were tribute to this child. That baby was someone to me, and I wanted to elevate that for the world to see.”
Now, in the spirit of remembrance, and in our continual pursuit of a youth that we inevitably leave behind, Emma Overman’s work stands in the tension of joy in the midst of loss. It reminds us that youth is the freedom to imagine a world the way it should be. It allows us to dream.