Young American artist Julia Waetzig modeled the figure “In the Trees” on musician Taylor Swift in her 2020 folklore era, translating a pop-cultural icon into an intimate, almost secret woodland setting that centers young feminine rest and safety.
Swift, as a young, light-skinned woman, reclines on lush green groundcover beneath slender trees, her body foreshortened so we look slightly downward, as if we’ve just stepped into the clearing. Her warm brown hair spills over roots as a gray knit top reveals softly lit skin. Her gaze is steady, turned upwards to look at us. Vertical tree trunks rise in soft focus, framing her in a sheltered, woodland space that recalls music-video dreamscapes. Sunlight filters through leaves across her cheek and forearm, emphasizing that this is a young feminine superstar at rest, not threatened. The overall mood is hushed, introspective, and cinematic with nature as a safe setting.
Waetzig has shared, “This work was done as an exploration of realism in an oil painting class I took during my semester away at The Oxbow School of Art and Academics (in Napa, California). One of my biggest artistic inspirations is Taylor Swift, so it came quickly to me that I would choose her as my muse. More specifically, the feelings and imagery invoked in her 2020 album ‘folklore’ greatly inspired this painting. For this work, I also chose to focus on my ability to replicate a reference with a sense of realism while still maintaining a painterly quality.”
By reclining Swift on the forest floor, Waetzig echoes the album’s themes of retreat, introspection, and women claiming interior space, while the strong upward trunks suggest growth beyond high school. Shown at the Bruce Museum’s juried iCreate exhibition, where only 60 works were selected from hundreds, the painting tagged Waetzig, then a New Canaan High School senior whose school later acquired the piece, as a young painter already able to merge celebrity, craft discipline, and personal voice.
“In the Trees” by Julia Waetzig (American) – Oil on canvas / 2023 – Bruce Museum (Greenwich, Connecticut) #WomenInArt #art #artText #artwork #BruceMuseum #StudentArtists #TaylorSwift #folklore #StudentArt #JuliaWaetzig #Waetzig #WomensArt #WomanArtist #YoungArtist #WomenArtists #HighSchoolArtist
