Evaluative statement

 Rebecca East

Process and Practice 

Evaluative Statement

Throughout this project looking at the theme of ‘Poetic Science’ I wanted to explore the intricacies of mushrooms and mycelium, finding ways to illustrate the complex ecology of these species, while also looking into more fictional mediums like fantasy and fairytales, where fungi imagery is often used.

In my initial research I started reading ‘Entangled Life’ by Merlin Sheldrake, which expanded my knowledge of not just how many species of fungi there are but also in how they shape the world around us in many different ways; this made me realise that I would need to narrow my focus away from fungi as a whole, as the topic is far too expansive to cover in a single project. I took inspiration from some places I visited on a trip to Berlin last year, where scientists and artists have looked at specific use cases for certain fungal species and decided that focusing on individual species and looking at them in more detail would be the best way forward.

This lead me to focus mostly on certain species like the Shaggy Mane Ink Cap and the Fly Amanita; looking at different how to represent them in a way that is visually interesting and appealing, but also relevant to certain aspects of their biological function. 

I made some 3D pieces to experiment with these ideas; needle-felting some cute Fly Amanita-inspired charms that look like friendly little mushroom creatures, taking inspiration from the fact I learned earlier on about Amanitas containing toxins that reduce the human body’s fear response. I also made a resin trinket box, decorated to look like a forest floor with mushrooms growing from it, which can be opened up to reveal a mycelium pattern on the inside, as a simple way to illustrate the inner workings of fungi.

I practiced a lot of block printing throughout this project, and it’s a process that I’ve come to really enjoy and implement in my own personal practice; I sell at a lot of art fairs and recently I’ve started making and selling a lot more Lino prints.

I tried growing my own Ink Caps, an experiment that ultimately failed, however it did give me an insight into the delicate nature within which fungi grow; wherein mycelium can only form if certain very specific conditions are met and a very delicate balance has to be held in order for the fruiting body of the mushroom to grow from it. This idea inspired my final Lino-cut print, I wanted to create a nice simple scene showing a harmonic balance in nature. 

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this project, it took me a little while to find a focus within this expansive topic, however once I did, I found that a lot of ideas and the processes with which to execute them came to me very easily. I think my skills in block printing and stamp making have improved quite a bit too which I’m very pleased about, and I’m going to continue working with these processes a lot more.