Upstate artist Sandra Schindlbeck uses three media – 3D clay sculptures, digital prints and paint on paper – to explore three struggles in her life – mental health, chronic pain and body image – in her latest exhibition, “Mind, Body, Creation,” set for July 30 through Aug. 24 in Gallery III of the Artists Collective | Spartanburg.
An artist’s reception is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 15, as part of Spartanburg ArtWalk. Admission to ACS galleries is free.
“With the work of this exhibition I went deeper into the therapeutic part of my art,” says Schindlbeck, a native of Bavaria, Germany. “It’s about the struggles with mental health, chronic pain and body image issues as well as the wondrous art I am able to create, at least in part thanks precisely to these challenges.”
In addition, she adds, using three different media allowed her to “explore different aspects of my topics with these different media. Especially, the haptics and the physicality of the clay brought me joy and helped me with my body image.”
Visitors to the exhibition can expect to see “self-portraits, fantastic creatures and sceneries, and bright colors and twisted things. They can expect honesty – a part of me. I hope people will be able to see the beauty in the odd, in the real and honest. I hope they might be able to look into themselves, self-reflect, relate, sympathize.
“The works took a lot of work and a huge part of my vulnerable self has been poured in it,” she adds.
Through her art, Schindlbeck says she wants to be an advocate for “normalizing mental health struggles, big and small. Everyone knows emotions, and everyone knows that theirs are not
always positive. I want to get people closer to the thought of the odd being a part of life, and I hope by expressing it, I can help people accept it. I hope that some eyes can be opened.”
She adds that her art is inspired by her life. “I am in the middle of the mental health journey of my life. Learning to deal with mental and physical symptoms of my maladies. All of my artwork has to do with this process – consciously or subconsciously.”
Schindlbeck, who joined the Artists Collective in October 2022, says she’s excited about this premiere exhibition there. “Being a member of the ACS made me believe in myself as an artist.” The 18 pieces in the exhibition will be available for purchase, with prices ranging from $80 to $800.