Kristin Sjaarda employs photography as her choice medium through which to investigate the intricacies of the urban ecosystem. Studying the life cycles of flora and fauna around the neighbourhood in Toronto where she lives and works, Sjaarda collects natural specimens directly from the environment to be arranged and captured as still life photographic images. Informed by the still life paintings of artists from the 17th century Dutch Golden Age (the cultural lineage of her personal ancestry), Sjaarda’s work conveys elements of the natural world in dramatic realism.

Sottobosco [The Forest Floor] presents selections of Sjaarda’s more recent works that reflect the influence of one particular 17th century Dutch painter: Rachel Ruysch. Acknowledged as one of the most accomplished still life painters of the era, Ruysch’s contributions to the genre are enveloped in her exemplary demonstration of the Sottobosco tradition. A sub-genre of still life, Sottobosco (also known as ‘forest-floor still life’) defined artworks that represented a significantly more expansive portrayal of the ecosystem where less idyllic elements of the undergrowth appear prominently alongside vibrant florals in bloom.

Grounded in this aesthetic history, the works featured in this exhibition demonstrate Sjaarda’s adaptation of the tradition as pests, bug-eaten leaves, fungi and decomposing materials are arranged in contrast to lush botanicals. As she further shares, “the push-and-pull between opposites – living and dying, light and dark, blooming and composting, rising and falling, predator and prey – forms the conceptual framework for this series. “

Kristin Sjaarda holds an Associate of Applied Sciences degree in Photography from the Colorado Institute of Art, USA. Recent exhibitions of her work have included presentations in Toronto, Montreal, Hamburg and Miami. Her works may be found in private collections in Canada, the United States, and Europe.