“new toys // time machines”

by natalia guerra

flower crowns & clover leaves

everyday, i walk past this patch of grass in my neighborhood

it lives between sidewalk and concrete, next to an old oak tree

it grows these weeds that bring me back to my childhood, to afterschool

the days of flower crowns and counting clover leaves


under the willows, i remember 

cartwheels, capture the flag, cracking up, cracking open

sweating so hard my hair sticks to my skin

finding respite in the grass,

laying back in starfish position, thinking

if i stay here long enough 

maybe the earth will wrap around and take me in

the sun kissed one cheek and my arm pillowed the other, i remember

i shrunk myself down to a ladybug and imagined

what it would be like to crawl through this meadow,

a forest of weeds and dandelion trees

traffic would be different.

i’d leave space for bees and beetles to land on the flower tops

i’d climb down to meet the ants and the roly-polys,

i wondered if they got along

or if there were slime trails i could follow to find some snails

where did the worms go? what did the caterpillars eat that day? 

how did the bug kingdom respond when giants

like squirrels or rabbits or birds

entered their territory?

the line between day and dream is so thin.

suddenly, i’m five-and-a-half feet tall 

all my friends are in love, and i am too

i think about other things now, like 

what i’ll make for dinner

when i’ll see my family this week

which tattoo i’ll get next and where i’ll put it

i thank this patch of grass, and its reminders

that my inner child is always with me

in all her wonder, in all her whimsy

artist statement

it’s christmas in 2010. and it’s time for you open the big present. its boxy and you think you know what it is but…. no! it couldn’t be…A BABY BLUE DSi!!!! its the only thing you wanted - and its exactly the color you had hoped for! the joy bubbling out of you in giggles and squeals feels endless. you can’t wait to pop your new games in and get your brand new life (with your very own DSi) started. after playing nintendogs and tackling 3 worlds in super mario bros, you explore the other features. the animation function is sick, but you’ve never been much of a drawer so all you make is a stick figure bouncing a ball. what else do they got goin on here? you finally see it: the little camera icon. your heart skips a beat. you’re like 12 and you don’t have money yet, so this is as close to a handheld as you’ll get. you load up your library with selfies, photos of your room, your cat, your family, and every other seemingly mundane part of your life. through either side of the dual camera, you were capturing things you hoped to remember forever.

now, its june of 2025 and i’m 26. my life looks and feels so different. i live in an apartment that i pay rent for, i have a dog and a boyfriend, i don’t take dance classes anymore. life can be so serious, time moves faster every day, and i feel i’ve been playing catch up for months. in these bouts of overwhelm, its hard to make anything at all - so for a long time i hadn’t. that is, until a couple weekends ago when i was lent a few relics from the early 2000s: alia’s digital camera from middle school and amr’s iconic camcorder. with either in my hand, i had access to a time machine that immediately transported me back to winter break 2010. my excitement was  uncontainable. i was intoxicated with nostalgia, joy, and renewed perspective. i captured everything in the weeks that followed, including the usual suspects: myself, my home, my dog, my loved ones, and other beautiful scenes of my everyday that i often forget to feel grateful for. 

so much has changed, yet so much stays the same - this thought reiterated itself as i created this collection. the photos and videos in this collection were taken in my creative playtime with new digital toys / time machines. the result was intuitive, organic and imperfect snapshots of my life that were captured without the debilitating pressure to produce anything “good” or “artsy.” by slowing down and taking note, i found a fresh start in my creative process. i was reminded why i make art: to better understand myself, to explore my relationship to the world, to archive life at this intersection of space and time. in all its imperfections and quirks, i am proud of this work because it was made with childlike wonder, as pure as spring.

@natalialuna_______