Kristin Sjaarda is a photographic, textile, and ceramics artist based in Toronto, Ontario. She attended The Colorado Institute of Art in Denver on a full tuition scholarship. Known for lush large-scale still-life images of local flora and fauna from her garden and urban environment, she collaborates with The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto to include real specimens of birds, eggs and shells in her arrangements. She has also designed silk scarves using her imagery, taught workshops on floral arrangement and natural-light still-life photography, designed and hand-made ceramics for use in her photos. Sheridan College, Ontario Science Centre, Toronto Botanical Gardens and TD Bank have invited Kristin to lecture on the intersection of art and ecology. Her work has been collected internationally and is included in corporate collections, such as the TD collection in Toronto, Ontario. A select portfolio has been published in CandyFloss Magazine, Women United Art Magazine and Create Magazine. She was an Artist in Residence at Kingsbrae Gardens in New Brunswick and at the Royal Hotel in Picton, Ontario. In February of 2025 The Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario, hosted Sistere, her third solo show. A new series done in collaboration with a camera operator was featured at Art Toronto in 2024 & 2025. She continues to create new work in her home studio.
“This series of photographs takes as its the inspiration the paintings of the Dutch golden age which were created in the spirit of optimism for a new age of scientific discovery and exploration. The series I have created is offered as more of a cautionary tale that alludes to what we are losing in bird and plant diversity due to urban sprawl and the same march of progress that the Dutch championed in the 17th century. My photographs feature birds that have died during spring and fall migration due to window collisions with downtown office buildings. The birds have been collected and tagged by volunteers and used for research and artistic projects by the ROM's ornithology department. Mark Peck, Manager, Schad Gallery of Biodiversity, Royal Ontario Museum, has said that my photographs give the birds a “second life” as works of art.
I have paired the birds with the flowers that would be in bloom during migration. In this way, I am creating a portrait of a particular time and place that is both rooted and fleeting. I have often had to wait an entire year before I have the chance to use elements specific to season and location.
Detail: Lid off a Daffodil, Palindrome Series
This focus on local flora and fauna and its perservation is a pertinent one as climate change and urban sprawl threaten bird species everywhere -- making it a subject of both national and international discussion. By using modern photography that echoes a historic style of painting, I am matching a contemporary technique to a critical contemporary concern. My goal is to hook viewers with a compelling, dynamic image that tells a story about our relationship to nature in the city.”
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Contact Kristin here or email directly k.sjaarda@gmail.com