The Making of the MaterialistBase Chakra - In Excess

The Making of the Materialist Base Chakra - In Excess

2016, Block and Flow Exhibition Development, Mandi's Inner World Tour

The Block and Flow series is all about what happens to us as humans when our chakral energy is diminished, excessive, or finally in balance.   This image is called the Materialist and represents the archetype of what happens when your base chakra is in excess.

Mandi Lynn, a Master Photographer with the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography is an internationally award winning photographer and stylist whose work has been featured in Vogue Italia and in International Photography Magazines. Her work has been features in exhibits… which makes her sound all posh and stuff but really she is just a cheeky, playful, down to earth farm girl who happens to be epic at turning peoples inner beauty into fine art. Mandi’s goal is to give you an experience where you will have your eyes opened to your mojo, your spark, your secret sauce of awesomeness. She wants to help ignite a change in your life where you see how amazing you are right down to your core and cheer you on to start really bringing it out in the world. When that happens it is a beautiful thing to behold and it is why she does what she does.

Typically this manifests as hoarding, compulsive shopping, and materialism.   This chakra energetically deals with safety, security, grounding, your connection with the living entity that is the earth, with nature, with your ancestors, with your future.  As humans we live on the earth the way that bacteria live within us.  There are good bacteria that help us digest and there are bad bacteria that can make us sick.  When our base chakra is in excess it is as if we transform from a good bacteria on the earth to one that is more like a bad bacteria or even worse as a cancer cell.  We consume and want more and more and the earth be damned we just want it.  When you rebalance this chakra the need to fill a void with “stuff” diminishes.    This chakra is about having just enough to be safe and secure and trusting that everything you need to bring your gifts to the world will manifest it self without you fighting as long as you are actively working to refine your talents.  This chakra is about taking care of yourself and care of your community and your environment.

Behind the Scenes of the creation of the image:

The Block and Flow series truly officially began when I was working with Kingsize Studios in Auckland after receiving the Kingsize Scholarship to study the fine art of studio lighting.   Having been a self taught photographer this was a huge hole in my education as I simply had never had the toys to play with.  But three months of deep diving and expert tuition helped fix that in a deep way.  – My awards the year after were proof enough of the power of that opportunity.

The other beautiful thing about the scholarship is it introduced me to the most amazing array of people.  I put the word out that I would be working on this project and the most delightful people started popping up saying they would love to help.    This became the Cast and Crew of the project.    Amit Jain did this behind the scenes video that showed the shooting  of the Materialist.

Kayla Echave was our lead character and brought her dance crew along to support her quite literally.  Sabrina Begum was my MUA for most of the Auckland part of this series.

 

The background was shot on a trip home to see my dad.  He lives in San Fran but I got to go see my aunt in LA and one night did some shooting on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.  It seemed like the most appropriate place to put our characters.  The compositing took me about a week of playing to pull off.   I had originally thought I would have a bag in her hand but despite several weeks of valiant effort we were unable to source one on the day…which I think worked even better.  Serendipity.  The friend of this exhibition.