Potential Landscapes

‘We must confess that we are the possible… We are the miraculous, the true wonders of this world Free to choose our ends, and our new beginnings That is when, and only when… We come to it’ – Maya Angelou (poem ‘A Brave And Startling Truth’) Potential Landscapes is an analogue photography project with artistic manipulation of the photo negatives, to create a miraculous new ecological (urban) reality (in artificial city island Amsterdam IJburg). With several life forces coming together in a new way to perceive nature, and human subconsciousness as part of nature. Do we love nature's diversity unconditionally? The former Zuiderzee (Southernsea) near Amsterdam is the scene for an analogue photography project. Inspired by the move to the artificial island of Amsterdam IJburg in 2018, to a house that looks out over the spacious IJmeer a city island [Strandeiland] to be built and constructed in the lake coming years, I explore the Amsterdam IJburg and coastal region nearby. To photograph existing and ever changing (urban) eco zones. As a sanctuary for untamed forces to honor the (sub)conscious, to cherish it, and to give it a place in my work with a new technique. I manipulate photos of landscapes with ink (and raw materials) on my medium format negatives. These photos can be blown up to a large extent and will therefore be suitable to appear in public space as well. The biodiversity of the expanding city of Amsterdam is being represented like an imaginative, surreal and colorful world, with an ocean, lake and rivers, whereby the primeval energies also break through tightly laid canals or flow through trees like water or oxygen. In this way I make a call to give nature's potential more space in urban and social structures and to give shape to new developments. Project Potential Landscapes explores (un)tamed landscapes, in the expanding city of Amsterdam. It connects IJburg (artificial city island) with the the coastal region and further in the Netherlands. I’ve been manipulating analogue medium format photography film with ink. To create a world of geological wonders. I’m focusing on a synergy between the subconscious and nature as we control it, despite of the gap between rational/functional city planning and the ecosystem with an holistic/intrinsic value. People take part of both cosmic energies and daily life plans, and therefore we can explore biodiversity by connecting to our inner nature. To open up for a deeper perception of ecology and plan livelihoods or parks from the inside out, collectively or personally. My window looks onto a great lake the IJmeer, where a new city island 'Strandeiland' is under construction at the moment. On a global level, cities are expanding, whilst people are becoming more aware of new technologies and a free consciousness, from where people can create new structures in society. In the past, the IJmeer lake has been a Sea with tides which has been controlled by the government to become a lake with sweet water. VOC trading ships have been entering Amsterdam from this lake/Sea, centuries ago. Despite or thanks to the resilience of the Dutch to deal with (rising) water, and to give space to lakes and rivers to overflow in certain chosen areas, I'm inspired by the power of natural forces. I connect with these forces from within, by working with my imagination to create new landscapes which are ever changing and evolving. To me, the landscape of the IJmeer, is still related to the ecology of the North Sea region, even though there are boundaries between cities and parks, with names and labels and specific functions. I try to inspire people to connect to a deeper wisdom, to start de-exploiting nature and start to co-create with nature with our modern technologies. The artificial island of IJburg forms a starting point from which this series will emerge; you don't have to go overseas to find wild nature or use raw materials. And you don't have to search for sustainable solutions; letting go of the speed or competitive hardness is the art of letting go, trusting and evolving from within. To take action from that synchronicity, not stress. Read more about project Potential Landscapes: www.mathildejansen.com/category/p-r-o-j-e-c-t-s/potential-landscapes/