Journey into Surreal: 'Everything's Fine' by Gwenn Seemel

Pictured Above: Gwenn Seemel- “Everything’s Fine” Photo Credit: Contributed.

Newsroom Post: PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

Princeton, NJ – Step into the mind of Lambertville painter, Gwenn Seemel, and experience her extraordinary series “Everything’s Fine” at Princeton Public Library from August 7th to October 15th. As we navigate the aftermath of the pandemic, this collection funded by the Puffin Foundation delves into the impact on our mental health, especially for children coping with remote learning and social distancing. With surreal and captivating paintings, Gwenn aims to remind us that we’re not alone in our struggles, facing global challenges and personal battles alike. Join the artist herself on August 16th at 7p for an opening reception and insightful artist talk.

We were already headed nowhere good in 2019 before the pandemic hit, with 1 in 3 teens saying they were feeling sad or hopeless. And then COVID hit. Today, the safety measures for the virus have disappeared, but the effects of years of remote learning and social distancing are still playing out for children of all ages. That’s where Lambertville painter Gwenn Seemel’s new series of surreal paintings comes in. The collection–a project that’s funded in part by the Puffin Foundation–will be on display at the Princeton Public Library starting August 7th. It’s called Everything’s Fine, because Seemel wants to make it clear that she knows everything’s not.

With the ever-scarier threats of global warming as well as the daily trauma of systemic racism, misogyny, and gun violence, the artist doesn’t want anyone to think they’re the only one struggling with anxiety or depression. These images are a starting place. “I feel like this,” you might say, pointing to the dragonfly being offered an oxygen mask. You could use a postcard of the skeleton who’s practicing death as a bookmark–a private reminder that at least one other person, AKA the artist, has felt like you. Or maybe you make it public, setting the image of a flying fish dragging an anchor as your profile pic. However you use it, the artist wants this work to feel like it belongs to you as much it does to her. As Seemel puts it, “these images were designed with you in mind, both because I need to feel like I’m not alone and because I want you to feel that connection as well.”