I’m drawn to plants that have had an effect on our human consciousness. Over the past ten years, my artistic practice has involved growing or locating specific plants, such as opium poppies, magic mushrooms, cannabis and others, photographing their growth at various stages and finally recombining the photographs into fantastical compositions that suggest their psychoactive nature. With my ongoing series “Visionary Plants,” I’m focused on plants that have contributed to global economies, challenged beliefs, caused violence, fueled addiction, promoted spirituality, raised consciousness, inspired art and generated legislation. The scale of the final photographs is much larger than life-size, enhancing the plant’s mythological status.

A related body of work, “Tattooed Tobacco” came out of growing tobacco, one of the most impactful plants in human history. Tobacco leaves are a foot in length and I was inspired to apply imagery to the leaves using a temporary tattoo process. Once mature, the decorated leaves were dried in bunches and photographed in the studio. The images reference tobacco’s history in the Americas and its subsequent use in Europe, after colonization, alongside images that point to its use in addictive, spiritual and medical practices. The human scale of the final photographs suggest manuscripts, maps, stained glass, skin and lungs.

“Chasing Clouds” is a series that uses the practice of vaping tobacco to explore the visual manifestation of a breath pattern suggesting ectoplasm, escaping spirits, auras, chakras, energy fields, and the dissolution of the self. The series title is inspired from a vaping subculture that references the practice of exhaling large amounts of vapor to produce complex formations for the purpose of competition or spectacle. The oval shape and ultra shiny surface suggest a mirror or portal through which a transformation may be experienced or revealed.

~ Naida Osline