By Rebecca Antwi’14, Staff Writer

Greta Skagerlind’14 has been involved with the arts ever since stepping foot on Newark Academy ground in 6th grade. Whether it is through the brilliant pieces in the gallery, her recent Spotlight article on the Newark Academy webpage, or playing the guitar throughout the Newark Academy hallways, Greta has been making waves in the Newark Academy art community. Most recently Greta’s piece “Lightbox” was accepted into the Morris Museum Art Exhibit called “Fresh Perspectives.” Her work was chosen to be one of fifty finalists from over four hundred submissions from thirty nine high schools throughout northern and central New Jersey.  The following are edited excerpts from an interview I conducted with Greta on April 22, 2013.

RA: What inspired you to do the “Lightbox” piece currently accepted in the Morris Museum Art Exhibit?

GS: I was inspired by a bunch of photoseries that I had seen online where the artists would take people, which are essentially the things most familiar to us, and put them in really unfamiliar situations. Except for this piece, I wanted to take a very familiar personal situation and make it impersonal and as glaringly obvious as possible. So I did that through my photographs, which were really in turn a way for me to get to my final product which happened to be a lightbox.

RA: But how did the idea move you to put the product in a physical box?

GS: Well, I think it’s important to mention that this project was created in the context of an IB art class where there are some guidelines as to where a piece needs to fit in with the requirements of a unit, and the box was kind of an afterthought to be honest, the initial idea was to do line drawings of my photographs, but one day the idea of having a lightbox just seemed so appealing to me, and with that came a flood of other ideas about fitting line, which is a staple 2D element, into a 3D space. So that’s kind of the place where this piece stemmed from.

RA: Is there more to this piece that you want people to get?

GS: I think it would be cool for people to realize that the people shown are in fact in showers, and the aspect of voyeurism was a pretty impactful one to me insofar as the message goes. I guess a bunch of “deeper” meanings could be construed from the piece, but honestly, I was just really intrigued by how we treat the idea of nakedness and personal situations, like being in the shower, and what role those play in society and how we talk about them in passing.

RA: What do you want people to get from the piece?

GS: I really just want people to think it looks cool, I think it would be a plus for people to understand the message, but I’m really proud of the aesthetic value the piece holds to be honest. If I can intrigue people, and maybe even make them say “this is cool,” then I’m completely satisfied.

RA: Do you have outside experience in art? Or a favorite project?

GS: Right now I’m working on a series of huge pointillist-esque canvas portraits, which has been really fun. To be honest, whatever I’m working on in the moment is usually my favorite project. Shooting people in the shower was also pretty fun if you want to know the truth.

RA: As in outside classes?

GS: Oh, ok, I’ve taken lots of local art classes in life drawing, and some in New York. Went to RISD [Rhode Island School of Design] over the summer. Was fun.

Greta’s admirable achievements in the visual arts are truly noteworthy. Her passion for art and her talent are unmistakable, and ultimately, make her one of the most exciting artists in the Newark Academy Community. Keep an eye out for Greta’s future art work, as it is sure to stun!