Betsy Horn
Broken (Pecan)
2022
Fluid acrylic on canvas
24 x 48 inches

Betsy Horn
Dissociation (Pecan)
2021
Fluid acrylic on cradled wood panel, framed in black
26 x 26 x 2.5 inches

Betsy Horn
Tears | tirs (Mimosa)
2021
Fluid acrylic on canvas, framed in black
26 x 26 inches

Betsy Horn
Regeneration (Pecan)
2022
Fluid acrylic on paper mounted on cradled wood panel, framed in black
14 x 14 inches

Betsy Horn
Trapped (Live Oak) 2021
Fluid acrylic on paper mounted on cradled wood panel, framed in black
14 x 14 inches

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am a self-directed artist living and working in Fort Worth, Texas. I have won awards for my landscape paintings and have been selected to be featured in a Public Art exhibit for the City of North Richland Hills, Texas in 2022. I am currently working with Alliance for Children, Tarrant County, Texas through art and monetary donations from my tree bark series of works, as well as contributing to their art therapy program.

My artistic mission is to evoke a love of nature and reveal the spiritual experiences hidden therein. My work is neither abstract nor realistic. As I examine my subject, I pull the colors out and reduce the lines down. I take from the most interesting areas of my subject, placing sections into a cohesive composition of lines and areas of visual interest. I use color to either portray the subject so that it is recognizable or to exaggerate that which we think we see. I use color to convey feeling. I start with the foundational layers. If it is a landscape, I start with the sky and come forward. With the tree bark series, I started with the dominant color, often gray, adding layers of colors as I saw them on the tree or in my imagination. I outline to define areas of contrast as in a stained-glass window. I may add highlights and shadows with short strokes and dots. My goal is to create an interpretation of the way I respond emotionally to my subjects through the use of color and line and to change the perspective of the viewer by doing so.

I wanted to artistically tell the story of childhood sexual abuse and recovery but never was satisfied with previous attempts to convey this intimate and disturbing message. As I studied trees over the years, and especially during the pandemic, I came to realize that tree bark is the perfect metaphor to tell the story of brokenness and recovery. Tree bark is broken by nature and scarred by animals of all kinds. As the viewer studies these close-up interpretations of the trees common to all of us, the broken places, and the scars, I ask them to consider the scars left by childhood sexual abuse. These layers have to be observed and then gently removed and healed. We have to look closely and carefully to see the child’s reality and for children to understand what has happened to them and how it will affect them and their families. Often the brokenness and scars on our trees lead to greater strength and greater beauty in the myriad colors left by disease and decay.