Beauty in Demise: An Example of Paradox and Dichotomy

Beauty in Demise - Photo c Lynda Lehmannn 2014

This is a studio setup inspired by some beautiful, lush branches of an orange tree that a good friend brought me to photograph.  I did a series while the leaves were still lush green, with bright, juicy oranges and delicate white blossoms attached.  
A week later, when the leaves had dried out and withered, I was stricken by the beauty/ugliness dichotomy and how the simple curling of individual leaves conjures "life" as a whole as well as some possible bird or animal forms.  I then contemplate "the wholeness of things," as I like to call it, when one example or kind of form evokes another, at another level of being.  From atoms to cells to tissues, organs, and organisms, similarities abound on a grand scale.  From the micro level to the vast universe, underlying principles that can't be articulated but only vaguely perceived, bind the cosmos into that elegant "Oneness" that scientists and quantum physicists refer to. 
If you would like to read a book that explores formal and functional similarities in biology and the greater universe as well, and will pique your sense of wonder, you might want to try The Lives of a Cell, by Lewis Thomas, M.D.  It's a fascinating read that affirms Dr. Thomas' subtitle: Notes of a Biology Watcher.  And it will give you prickles of what C.S. Lewis calls the feeling of "the numinous," that exhilarating and just slightly eerie feeling of awe and wonder that informs your spirit and lets you know that you in your humble human capacity, can still perceive great and mysterious things that are beyond our full apprehension.
I tried to arrange these leaves to get the most pleasing negative space, because I have always enjoyed negative space as well as the forms contained within.  As my painting style has most often been frenetic, full of furiously looming form and texture, working with photography to achieve a more minimal composition is a welcome move in another direction.  Have you done any minimal drawings or photos or penned a "minimal" poem lately?

Note: You can click on each photo to see a larger version. All images and text on this blog are copyrighted material, and may be used only with written permission, except where syndication rights have been granted. All other rights reserved. Please visit my sites listed in my sidebar if you would like to see my paintings and more of my photography and digital art, or make a purchase.

Life as Paradox

Into Shadow - Lynda Lehmann c 2011

Light Play - Lynda Lehmann c 2011

Day's Aftermath - Lynda Lehmann c 2011

Every ending is also a beginning, and every beginning eventually culminates in some state of change and fullness before moving to its finish and conclusion.  Hence the cycles and paradoxes of Life.  A sunset is beautiful and inspiring, yet reminds us of Life's transience.  So it becomes bittersweet, taking on a yin-yang of both positive and negative connotations.  Maybe the best metaphors are like that, ambiguous but meaningful on multiple levels.  To me, a beautiful sunset suggests the cycles of infinite Life moving through time and space, seeking more of itself.  And we ourselves, are reflected in both the glowing waters of sunset, and in the ebb and flow of Life. 
Peace and joy to you.  - Lynda 

Awesome Sky - Lynda Lehmann 2011

All images and text on this blog are copyrighted material, and may be used only with written permission, except where syndication rights have been granted. All other rights reserved. Please visit my primary site at http://www.lyndalehmann.com/gallery if you would like to see my acrylic paintings and more of my photography and digital art. I hope you enjoyed your visit to my blog!

Images Evoking Torment

Broken Promises - Image c Lynda Lehmann

In the decay of our cultural institutions we find images that evoke the core of human suffering. Privation, need, fear, despair, insanity, and hopelessness. For me, the lesson in viewing such places is that by seeing scenes that can be described as either spiritually or physically ugly, we see the brighter things. Paradox is so deeply built into the human experience that by its very nature, it teaches us to look at things from a wider perspective. "Holistically," as one of my revered Art Education professors at Penn State University used to say.

Here are a few photos from the grounds of Kings Park Psychiatric Center, that I shot last week. The old state hospital is on what are now the grounds of Nissequogue River State Park in Suffolk County. You can wander the grounds but the buildings, for understandable reasons, are off-limits. Indeed they are crumbling, and would be dangerous to approach. It seems to me that New York State would do well to either reclaim these building for future generations, or destroy them. They're an attractive haven for wayward teenagers, I'm sure. And that in itself is dangerous. Perhaps they could be used to make a summer day camp, or sold to artists to renovate? Or just razed to increase the usable space of the existing park?

Eternal Struggle - Image c Lynda Lehmann

I enjoy walking there because ghosts of the past seem to whisper on the stale wind coming out of the dark windows. I enjoy the place visually, as a photographer. And as a bit of local history. But in hard economic times in particular, I would think the space, if not the buildings themselves, could be reclaimed for public use of some sort.

Best Forgotten - Image c Lynda Lehmann

A Voice from the Shadows - Image c Lynda Lehmann


Forbidden - Image c Lynda Lehmann

For me these structures evoke all the pain and torment of mental illness, for those who can't function in society and have so much behavioral difficulty that they need to be institutionalized. Sadly, mental health services have been cut drastically in the last three decades, and many people cannot get the care or guidance that they need.

Where Shadows Fall - Image c Lynda Lehmann

I've sometimes heard people say that there is beauty in ugliness. My interpretation is that in the duel, yin-yang nature of things, it's the ugly stuff that informs our consciousness and makes us lean, or strive, towards the light. And towards beauty, of course.

Many ramifications of duality lend themselves to discussion: the nature of paradox itself, good versus evil, the meaning and purpose of human institutions, our perceptions of the world, etc. What do you think? Do you ponder the contradictions of life? Are you comfortable with perceiving paradox? Or do you lean more towards absolutes--the black and white polarities--instead of standing with uncertainty in the "gray zone"?

All images and text c Lynda Lehmann. If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

Scenic Nature-Zen and a Study in Opposites: Spray and Stone

Sparkling River Gems - Image c 2008 Lynda Lehmann

Pebbles glisten in the froth and foam of this energetic stream, while the foam changes pace and pattern to rim the rocks in festoons of white bubbles.

Dazzled by the Sparkling Stream - Image c 2008 Lynda Lehmann


These girls wade into the clear, cold water pouring out of the White Mountains into Diana's Baths, a scenic and serene spot in eastern New Hampshire. I feel they must be as fascinated by the glimmer and colors of the rocks sparkling beneath the waters rippling surface, as I am. Nature welcomes them into this beautiful and pristine pool among the boulders.

Dance Over Boulders - Image c 2008 Lynda Lehmann

This boy's smile and lithe step say a lot about his sense of joy and discovery at this beautiful scenic spot on a New Hampshire river. His stance is graceful and puts him in a visual harmony with the curve and flow of the boulders.

Spray and Stone - Image c 2008 Lynda Lehmann

Also taken at Diana's Baths in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, this shot is one of contrasts: between light and shadow; the delicateness of the spray and solidity of the stone; between what is ephemeral (the water's flow) and what is enduring (the mass and steadfastness of the boulders.) It is also a study in textures and the more subtle colors of nature's palette.

Thanks for sharing the joy of nature with me!

Images and text c Lynda Lehmann. You can buy these prints in several sizes, on a variety of papers or framed, at my Imagekind gallery or Artist Rising. The links to these and my other sites are in my sidebar.