Artist Statement
Our perception of ourselves can be quite different from who we aspire to become. How do we encourage our natural growth as we navigate the inorganic aspects of our lives? Our authenticity can become suppressed due to constraints imposed by society and ourselves. These hard edges leave little room for movement or freedom; the straight lines can lead down a path we'd rather not go. Hopefully, we can begin to heed the voice inside that urges us to take a different path, away from the one laid before us. This new route can lead us anywhere we desire; it twists, ascends, and flourishes wherever the light shines and water flows. As we follow our inner voice, we begin to branch out in new ways that feel true. Our true selves will sprout up again and flower into the version of us that we always wanted. There may be harsh winters when we wither entirely, but spring will come again. We will continue to grow and bloom into who we were always meant to be. It's in our nature.
In True Nature, photographer Lindy Schoenborn explores the concept of survival through coexistence as our true self overcomes the artificial barriers around us. It urges us to turn to nature to understand and contemplate our own personal growth and inspires us to overcome the obstacles that have been imposed upon ourselves.
In 2020 I was working as a studio manager for a photographer, helping him with his various projects that all revolved around the concept of the Self. I saw myself following this path for as long as it would lead me, because so far it had taken me to wonderful places filled with wonderful people. One of the people I got connected to was Susan Burnstine, a photographer whose work is about the world of her dreams, and she mentors others to create art from their heart and soul too. I was enrolled in a mentorship with her that was originally going to help guide the project I worked on for the other artist. In 2021, I was unexpectedly let go from my position as studio manager, and I expected my mentorship would end there too. However, Susan let me know the mentorship was already paid for, so we could continue working together to create a project with my own photography instead.
During our mentorship, I discovered a dynamic living inside me that I saw mirrored with nature and man-made world. Plants growing in unexpected places, or perhaps finally overgrowing a surrounding structure that once kept the natural world separate from man. I saw myself in these plants, and Susan saw it too. There was a message I had been learning slowly through my previous job, my tarot cards, by reading the book Simple Abundance, and through this photography series - finding one's authentic self. Knowing there is a deeper part of me that yearns to live a life that aligns with who I am inside and finding ways each day to become that version of myself. I realized throughout different points in my life I have already outgrown or broken out of societal structures and ideologies that no longer fit who I am and what I believe in. There have also been times I conformed to what was expected of me or what felt comfortable in the moment, and seeing the need to grow out of certain habits. All these coalescing messages of finding and understanding myself came into view and I realized I had a chance to turn this journey into art.
And so the creation of True Nature began.
Confined
Between
Find Stability
Transformation
This project involved lots of exploration and photo walks over multiple months to seek out inspiring imagery sprawling along walls and fences. My walks brought me into the city, through suburbs, to the more desolate areas of town, and even stops off the highway. Once I photographed the scenes that caught my eye, I edited and sent the best from each session to Susan to get her input on that month's batch of photos. She helped me discover the style I wanted to photograph the images in and would let me know what compositions had feeling and which ones were just a photograph. Understanding the emotion behind my work helped me realize how I wanted to photograph it and I decided to give these everyday landscapes their own portrait session by making them my subjects and document their stages of growth head on. I started to understand what I was supposed to be photographing and searched for the scenes that fit my theme. Before I was just photographing anything that drew my artistic attention, now I was trying to feel something.
After 17 sessions over the course of a year and half, my mentorship with Susan came to an end. I had a portfolio of 20 photographs that followed a theme and told the story of discovering one's Self. For two years the photographs sat on my computer, and I envisioned and dreamt that they could someday become their own exhibition. I must have manifested it or something, because at the beginning of 2024 my friend and curator Mike Williams mentioned wanting another artist to exhibit in his pop up space in Downtown Wilmington at 210 Princess Street.
Mike and his work partner Holly Fitzgerald created Project 8179 to foster an environment that helps artists develop their ideas and encourages them to produce artwork with depth and contextual significance. After sending my portfolio to Mike he agreed that I should turn this into an exhibit at the gallery on Princess Street. In late April, he and Holly gave me the potential opening date for the show as May 24th. The following month was spent looking at the prices differences of various printers, debating the size of the prints, finalizing what photographs would be printed, choosing frames , deciding the order they should be hung in the gallery, and finally installation. The opening night of my photography exhibition True Nature was on May 24th and the exhibition is set to run until July 26th.
Next Thursday July 11th I will be hosting an artist talk at 6:30pm to discuss more about the process of creating this series and more about the photographs themselves. You can RSVP for that event here. If you're unable to attend this artist talk but would like to learn more about this series, consider joining my Patreon to learn more about all my different art projects. I have a collection dedicated to True Nature that offers a behind the scenes at the creation and curation of this series. Click here to become a member of my Patreon!
