Sophia Romanski, class of 2023

In grade school, I was That Kid who sat in the back corner by the window and daydreamed about going on grand adventures in magical worlds instead of paying attention to class. Except I rarely sat by the back window because we kids didn’t really get to choose our own seats all that often. Mentally, though, I was living the life of every Disney Channel Original Movie protagonist, far removed from all my classmates because I “just wasn’t like other girls.” I still spent my time in class daydreaming, even if my seat was right up front by the teacher.

Those dreams finally have a physical form in Fernweh. The title is a German word that describes the feeling of missing places you’ve never been. I find it is a more visceral experience than simple wanderlust or wistfulness. It more accurately captures the cocktail of nostalgia, wonder, and child-like optimism I chased while making this body of work. Each piece is a childhood dream made manifest. They act as windows not only into another world but into my imagination.

Fernweh is an eclectic collection of childhood dreams that functions as an escape from an increasingly dismal, frustrating, and catastrophically stressful reality.