SELECTED WORKS
BIO
Naida Osline
AMERICAN; Based in Los ANGELES
Naida Osline mixes conceptual and documentary methodologies to reflect on experiences that are transformative. Her on-going series, Visionary Plants (2009-2019), is contrived as a catalogue of sorts, a cabinet of curiosities full of psychoactive botanicals rendered in mythic proportions. (The most recent installment, beginning 2016, is pictured above.) The psychedelic scenes hint at the deep relationship these plants have with human history — how they have affected global economies, caused violence, shifted beliefs, inspired creativity, and fueled legislation. Backyard High (2013), riffs on similarly visionary themes like the potentially transcendent act of looking up at the sky. The images are both celebratory and foreboding, mirroring an appreciation for the power of immense beauty but also the anxiety that comes with the knowledge of darker possibilities like pollution, climate change, and surveillance.
Naida has had numerous solo exhibitions in the United States and Colombia. Her most recent exhibition, Chasing Clouds, was on view at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art. Naida travels extensively between North and South America.