6
working with
the living
Working with natural, biodegradable materials
only tempered my frustration with waste;
It was a necessary stage in my creative evolution,
but a myopic, juvenile approach to working with nature.
I tapped into the surface qualities of nature,
and neglected the strength and wisdom
that it truly holds,
because I was working with nature,
when it was no longer living.
only tempered my frustration with waste;
It was a necessary stage in my creative evolution,
but a myopic, juvenile approach to working with nature.
I tapped into the surface qualities of nature,
and neglected the strength and wisdom
that it truly holds,
because I was working with nature,
when it was no longer living.
Fungi was my first l i v i n g collaborator,
my first non-human non-animal friend.
my first non-human non-animal friend.
I learned what it liked
and didn’t like.
and didn’t like.
I nourished it and
gave it space to grow.
I designed the environment
that would bring out its best.
gave it space to grow.
I designed the environment
that would bring out its best.
The work took on a life of its own,
the fruit of our connection/relationship.
the fruit of our connection/relationship.
I have always felt connected to the materials I work with,
but mycelium responded to my hand and pressures,
with a depth and complexity,
that could only come from a living organism.
but mycelium responded to my hand and pressures,
with a depth and complexity,
that could only come from a living organism.
Working with mycelium gave me the opportunity
to truly share authorship with a material.
to truly share authorship with a material.
Preserving mycelium required me to dry it.
Dried, it still retained most of
its unique qualities.
Working with fungi in this capacity
still feels incomplete.
I was still killing it to preserve it,
keeping it alive with an expiration date,
effectively stunting its f u l l potential,
limiting its living properties,
for futile purposes.
still feels incomplete.
I was still killing it to preserve it,
keeping it alive with an expiration date,
effectively stunting its f u l l potential,
limiting its living properties,
for futile purposes.
I envision materials that stay alive with us,
that continue to breathe and remediate,
while fulfilling its other purposes of
clothing, embellishing, sheltering.
that continue to breathe and remediate,
while fulfilling its other purposes of
clothing, embellishing, sheltering.
I no longer wish to create in ways
that take and deplete.
I only wish to work at that which
heals us and the world.
that take and deplete.
I only wish to work at that which
heals us and the world.
So I am truly a conduit for creation,
a vessel for the wisdom and magnificence of nature.
a vessel for the wisdom and magnificence of nature.
