Show March 23 – April 27th

ARTIST STATEMENT

“Wild Seeds”

My purpose for this photography series is to decontextualize seedheads as an enemy and to reconstruct them as beautiful, courageous, and strong subjects.   Escaping the city lifestyle is an important routine in my life. In the nature of Northern Saskatchewan, I lose myself in a sea of wild plants, observing, thinking on the cycles of life. It was then, where I realized seedheads are the most resilient plant on Earth. This is in part seen through the connection between seedheads and myself, a human being. Take dandelions, which are considered to be an enemy to us humans and not appreciated for their beauty, power, and strength. Often they get overlooked, attacked with chemical herbicides consistently used to eliminate them. Dandelions are born, they flourish, they close up in the aging process and then they die. While death might seem difficult to cope with, dandelions are similar to humans.

After they die, they are reborn and their seeds spread, burying themselves to create new life. Dandelions are not the only resilient seedhead, as there are other seedheads living on planet Earth that have similar strengths.  I witnessed two delicate plants, one being a seedhead, that formed a unique relationship to support each other despite the environmental complications they faced such as flash freezing. These seedheads managed to remain intact despite being in an open field, all throughout a fierce Saskatchewan winter season. In a way, I empathize with these seedheads and saw their strength in reproducing life. In “Wild Seeds,” I wanted to show the beauty within these plants and how they are similar to human life.

BIO Born and raised in Saskatoon, Natasha Yokoyama-Ramsay is a freelance photographer currently based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. She graduated with a Bachelor of Design specializing in Photography from Alberta College of Art + Design (ACAD) in 2013 and since then, she has pursued a career as a freelance photographer in both commercial and fine art spaces.  While in college, Natasha studied Commercial Photography with a specialization in Portraits where she participated in several group shows in Calgary, Alberta. Upon her return to Saskatoon shortly after graduation, Natasha took part in a couple of solo exhibitions. Natasha’s main specialization in photography is portraiture, where she seeks raw qualities and reveals the honest and vulnerable characteristics in her subjects. Overtime, she took her talent of capturing raw qualities in portraits and used the same techniques in nature, wildlife, and objects.